Silk of the Fates
by kudarii
Summary: I've just been thrust into the future. It wasn't supposed to happen this way-I was supposed to be there for everyone. For ANNABETH. I need to find out who killed her, and why. I need to find out... why the future is terribly, terribly wrong. Percebeth
1. Annabeth Breaks the News

**A/N: **Okay, (cough). So, Kudari plus finishing The Last Olympian times reading fanfics about main characters going to the future and meeting their kids equals this story. Pretty much that. I made another story like a year ago about "Callie Jackson and the Greeks", and I sort of had an idea about it, but with TLO and everything, I decided to start fresh. I'm sure you'll like it. If not, the pitchforks under my bed. :D

_Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson. _

**Chapter 1: **Annabeth Breaks the News

Maybe I should explain this a little bit clearer. It so totally didn't mean to happen this way—it just kind of... happened? Okay—I know what you're thinking: how does one suddenly thrust into the future after a minuscule date with his girlfriend?

Well first off, I wanna get something clear. Are you, or are you not like every single one of the campers at Camp Halfblood who find it amusing when I have a 'Lover's Quarrel' with my girlfriend? Sure, we've known each other since we were twelve, and I'm sixteen, almost seventeen now—but seriously. We've been going out for a year now, and we've been bickering a lot lately. She won't tell me what's on her mind, it's _not_ my fault.

It all started out in a car ride. Annabeth was the one driving (showing off her Maserati Spyder. She finds it funny I've been saving up since I was like, ten, but she was always better with money. In my defense, I blame the Stoll brothers too) and was asking me what I'd be doing with my life. Unlike her, I guess in between being one of the children of the Big Three and trying to defeat Kronos, I had never given it any thought.

"Maybe I'll become an equestrian." I kind of mumbled when I said it. Annabeth was always confident of her plans. She had already applied to three of the top schools with the best program, and two of them had already accepted her. From hearing between Virginia Polytechnic and Cornell U, she made me feel more inferior than I already did. "Or an oceanographer."

What made it all too guilty? Her beautiful gray eyes. They twinkled with mischief every time she looked my way. "An Equestrian, huh? Oceanography and everything. I'm proud of you, Seaweed Brain. I..." She suddenly clutched her stomach. I snapped out of my thoughts and flashed a look of concern. She had been doing it lately, along with rubbing her temples a lot more frequently.

Fortunately she was able to stop before she did a considerable amount of damage. I brushed a hand in her hair and a surge of guilt ran through me. "I told you I could drive, Annabeth. Anymore of these headaches and your brain might explode."

Annabeth shook her head and shrugged me off. "I'm fine. I promise."

I didn't believe her. "But—"

"_Percy._" Her voice was a little bit higher and her tone was less pleasant. The daggers she was glaring me weren't exactly helping the situation.

"How about I back off?" I grumbled reluctantly. She continued the drive. We were two miles away from the camp at this point. I pressed my head against the glass window and narrowed my eyes at the trees. The drive continued with a brief silence.

"Just think," Annabeth said. "It's a new year, Percy. Somewhere at that camp, there's a little Percy and a little Annabeth. Maybe a little Grover too."

"Yeah." A wile grin spread across my face. "If you consider a twenty-four-year-old satyr to be little. Aren't they like... expecting?"

Annabeth silenced for another moment. I hadn't thought much of it at this point. When she had come to take me out of the stupid school, she was biting her lip and nervous. This would be the first summer where Luke wasn't involved—good _or_ bad. I didn't blame her. "I think they already had him."

"How does that even work? Between a nymph and a satyr?" I grinned in amusement. She slapped me in the arm. "Seriously, Annie! Does Grover Jr. like, have the whole upper part of him as a nymph and everything else a satyr, or the other way around? Is he anything like Persephone and Demeter? With same powers and everything?"

"First of all: 'Grover Jr.'s' name is Pan. Second of all: I don't know. Percy," Annabeth shot a warning look, "you're like a little kid stuck in a grown boy's body."

"So sue me for having ADHD." She gave me another peculiar look before giving me a peculiar smile. "What?"

"Oh. Nothing. Just wondering how you'll act with say... the little Annabeth and the little Percy."

"Whip 'em into shape. Not too good though. Percy Junior has to be able to kick their butts." A small chuckle left me as I folded my arms. My son would kick butt.

"...you... want kids?" My smile dropped. I looked at her frantically, eyes widened and began turning beet red.

"What? Well... yeah... I mean, not right _now_ at this very moment, since we're gonna start our senior year after the summer, and well, maybe we won't even be together—or, maybe we'll still be together, but if we were to have kids right now...thatwouldmeanyouandmewouldhaveto..." My voice was certainly three octaves higher than it was supposed to be.

Annabeth's eyes were blank, as if she were thinking. I both loved and _hated_ it when she was thinking. When she was thinking, that meant that she was planning my doom. "You, Perseus Jackson, are such a moron."

"Then you, Annabeth Chase, are the girlfriend to a moron." She and I shared our final laugh before she finally parked in an open space just behind the border of the camp. I got out of my seat immediately and grabbed my bag. When I turned around, I had expected for Annabeth to be after me, but I was wrong. She was still in the car, rubbing her head and grumbling. I dropped my bag before I stepped off for her. "You sure you're okay, Annabeth? It's not like you to get such killer headaches."

"I'm fine." Her voice was nothing but a mumble. A frown crossed my face. Before she had the chance to complain again, I had unbuckled her seatbelt and hoisted her onto my back. "Percy—! I-I told you already, I'm _fine!_"

"Okay, you're fine." I reached for my bag and then hers in the back. "and your mother's accepted me as her future son-in-law."

It wasn't the most complicated thing to realize that Athena had it in for me. I'm still too scared to ask if she has it in for me personally or because my father had disgraced her shrine. Perfect thing to talk about the next time Annabeth and I have to come crashing into Mount Olympus. Annabeth rested her head at the crook of my neck. I'd never tell her how much I liked that, even when we were younger. Her tiny head fit perfectly under my neck and just under my ear. If it were any other person, I don't think I would be able to tolerate it.

"What's been bugging you lately?" I asked softly. We had a couple of yards to walk before we actually made it to the cabins. It was the perfect time to talk.

She was mumbling again. Annabeth was obviously tired at this point.

"I told you," I said sternly. It wasn't fun to mess with her when she was as stressed as she would. Gods knew what the Athena Cabin would do to me once I got her to her bed. "I would have driven here. Do you need some ambrosia?"

"No." She breathed in deeply. It had become a routine whenever I carried her like this. I soaked in her scent, and she soaked in mine. I think, at least. Girls are weird. "You...car...last time...hammer...Blackjack..."

"And Rachel."

"_And Rachel._" Ouch. Maybe mentioning Rachel all before the big Oracle stuff was a bad idea. Even though her pride wouldn't let her admit it, Annabeth was jealous of her. Last year wasn't a good year. We not only lost half of our camp mates, but I had experienced the worst thing known to man kind: girls and their fucking moodswings.

"So are you two love birds back to being shy and blushy, or are you going to snuggle in that cold little Poseidon Cabin all by yourselves?"

Annabeth's grip tightened over my neck. I almost choked at the grip. "Ha, ha. Nice to see you too, Clarisse." I could see her from the corner of my eye. Even if we weren't the best of friends, after last year, we were at least friends. I smirked. "We're still up for Capture the Flag, aren't we?"

As another year had went by, it wasn't until now that she and I were the same height. Clarisse was awesome, even if she was the brattiest person I knew. The smug laugh she spewed only confirmed my asking. "You know it. Don't think I'll go easy on you." She then flashed a concerned look. At first, I thought she was staring at me, but then Annabeth's condition quickly made the friendly rivalry leave. "What's wrong with Wise Girl?"

"Headaches," I answered before Clarisse could get any closer. Putting more of Annabeth's weight on my left arm, I reached into the open pocket of my sack with my right and took out a bag of ambrosia nectar. I gave it to Annabeth. "Drink it. Maybe you're just tired from having to sit still in a car—I know I am."

Annabeth's eyes fluttered open behind me. Her moist lips were pressed against the nape of my neck, and her big eyes stared up at the bag. Finally, she listlessly sighed and reached for it. "You're such a worry wart."

"The first summer I was here, the Minotaur tried to kill me. Second summer: Grover was almost married to a cyclopes. Third? Thalia comes back to life and you get that white streak in your hair from holding the sky up. So on and so on. Annie, I'm pretty sure I'm entitled to worrying." I narrowed my eyes at her strictly. Every single summer since I've known her, I've been so close to losing her. Last year with the war was the worst case by far—I didn't want to lose someone I loved so much—be it being zapped down by Zeus himself or from something as stupid as the common cold.

I hadn't realized she was staring at me. The thoughtful look had come to her face again, and I was wondering whether or not I had said the last bit out loud. Slowly, she smiled, so I smiled.

"You two are _such_ a lovey-dovey couple." We snapped out of it quickly. Clarisse scoffed, eyes rolling. "How about I catch up with you two later? Girl, you look like you'll need more than that bag. I'd visit Chiron if I were you." I had caught her mumbling something about the Hera cabin too, but decided to shrug it off.

"Just so you know," Annabeth's voice sounded a little bit better, "I'm perfectly fine walking now."

"What if I like carrying you?" I smiled cheekily as we made it past the cabins. Most of the new ones were up—the Hades cabin was up and running, and I recognized the new Iris Cabin by the way the wood it was built with was sparkling and psychedelically tyedye.

"So between fighting monsters and flirting with other girls—" Gods I was hoping she was teasing about the last part "—you _do_ have a suave side. 'could use some work."

"We'll see." I knocked (well, kind of incessantly kicked) the Athena Cabin's door about five times before one of Annabeth's siblings—Theodore, I think—opened the door with an irritated look.

"Hey, Simon." Oh. Annabeth readjusted herself on my back (which kind of earned an unmanly squeak from me) and reached out to shake his hand.

Simon looked at the two of us suspiciously. Part of me wondered if it was Athena talking through him when he quirked a brow. Immediately it faded and melted into concern for his sister. By the way, isn't that a scary thought? Me marrying Annabeth and suddenly having twenty or thirty brothers/sisters in laws. "What's wrong, Annabeth?"

"Nothing," she said brusquely before I could interrupt again. "Percy, put me down."

Simon eyed me again with a glare. Rolling my eyes, I brushed past him and brought her to her bed. Gently, I set her down and brushed the hair out of her eyes. She had begun to fall asleep, and the dumb smile on my face wouldn't leave. It reminded me two years before when I had first met Aphrodite. Aphrodite was beautiful (and well duh, she was the goddess of Love and Beauty), but one of the people I had seen in her was my girlfriend. Two years ago I would have been a blushing moron and unable to admit I liked her, but even then I wouldn't have known what life would be like without her.

I could still hear Aphrodite's playful giggles in the back of my head. My smile faded a little, and I murmured an apology for not being able to protect her daughter, Silena. Silena had been a spy for Lu—Kronos last year, but she had immediately regretted it after her boyfriend, Beckendorf had gotten hurt. She was the daughter of the Goddess of Love; losing a love one like that would have been twice as painful.

"Stop staring; it's weird." Looking behind me, Simon had raised a quiet brow. His nose was dug into one of the Harry Potter books, but it was the same one I've seen him with a thousand times. Either he really liked that book or he was using it as an excuse to spy on us. "Don't forget: a boy and girl aren't allowed to be in the same cabin together by themselves."

"It's a good thing you're here then, now isn't it?" I snorted, and he smiled just a little bit.

"Chiron wanted a word with you and all of the other head counselors. I'll send Annabeth after you when she feels better."

"Good." I pecked Annabeth's hand quick enough so Simon wouldn't notice, but the way he softly snickered made me know he did. I left the cabin and made a detour for the Big House. Rachel's school had let out two weeks earlier than Annabeth and mine, so she was most likely already there. I hadn't as much even reached the door before it burst open and a flurry of red hair blinded me.

"Percy! It's so nice to see you!"

I turned a little pink as she hugged me even more. When she finally let go, I was able to get a good look her. Aside from the whole mystifying glow and stuff, Rachel was still the same. Her hair was a little bit longer than what I had grown accustom to seeing her with, and her eyes were a bit more knowing. What made me proud was the fact that I was actually taller than her. Three inches, at least. "How's that school of yours?" She had made a deal with her father to come and try and save me in place of having to go to a ridiculous socialites school.

"Boring." She scoffed, hands on her hips (which made me think a lot of when I had first met her), and she gave me a hard look. I hated it when she and Annabeth did that, but a second later, it melted into a smile. "But you're worth it."

"So are you." I scratched my head awkwardly and tried to smile. "Well uh, one more year, right?" It was strange. The girls that had an attachment to me were either dating me (Annabeth) or had become immortal and weren't allowed to wed. I suddenly took note of the brown pouch looped around her neck and pulled it up with my hand. "Is that where the new Great Prophecy is?"

"Yes," she said.

"Freaky, huh? Hope you didn't blab everyone's future out loud and everything," I said. I thought about it again where Apollo had visited her and everything. I paled a little bit—I mean, he was applauding and such. Even if Rachel wasn't allowed to marry anyone, Apollo was kind of... Well, he made me wonder whether or not he took after his father. "Hey, Rachel. What do you think of Apollo? Does he like, protect you now and stuff if demons come near you?"

She didn't answer. When I looked her way, I saw the glow of her eyes intensify and her eyes fluttered down. Rachel clasped her hands over mine.

"_You shall go missing, meddling in Time's hands,_

_Two children of blood who meet your demands, _

_Betrayed by what matters most,_

_Depend on blood and a wandering ghost,_

_Choose the hero who truly deserves,_

_Protect what time has truly preserved_."

I blanked out. All I could do was stare as her as she left Limbo and stared at her. When she finally relaxed, she stared back with her blue eyes. "What?"

"Did you just... read me a prophecy?" I had asked the question so stupidly that there was just no point to.

Rachel scratched her head and matched the blank look I had. "I... did?"

"Just when I was hoping for a quiet summer to spend with Annabeth." I sighed and rolled my eyes, but we both knew it wasn't true. Sort of. Half of me was sort of excited (the god half) and half of me really just wanted to marinate. When I realized the words came out of my mouth, I narrowed my eyes and put a hand over Rachel's mouth. "_Don't_ tell Annabeth about that prophecy. She hasn't been feeling well."

"Sure." Rachel raised a brow and mumbled how she didn't even know what she said. I planted the prophecy in my head and sighed with mild relief. At least that would be over with soon.

"So," I grinned, "are you going to say... play Capture the Flag with us?"

I wish you were here when you saw it. Her eyes had widened to the size of saucers and she shook her head fiercely. "No. Nuh-uh. Last time I played that Stoll Brothers and they cheated me out of everything. Gods know that they don't play fair."

"Sometimes it's fun. When they're on your side, it's awesome." Oh, crap. My eyes widened and I leaped into the air. "I'm supposed to see Chiron! I'll uh, see you later, Rachel!"

–

"Hi Percy!"

I turned around immediately and grinned. Nico Di Angelo mimicked my grin, and his ivory skin emphasized his father's features. He was thirteen this year, and was getting taller. We high-fived each other and he immediately narrowed his eyes. "Where's your girlfriend?"

"At the cabin; she's not feeling well." When I looked for those who were already here, I recognized one of Annie's siblings in her place.

The others, excluding Annabeth, were already circling the table when I got there. Some of them were new faces and others were old. Clarisse was holding hands with Chris Rodriguez and mumbling some words to the new head of the Aphrodite Cabin, Nate Belmonte. I remembered him for comforting Silena before all of the big stuff happened. He was tall, dark, and handsome—uh, well, that's what Thalia commented on when we last saw each other.

Next to him stood Sonny Yew. She was the younger sister of Michael Yew. He had made her stay behind the year before because he suspected it was too dangerous. Turns out he was right. She was pretty, with a mess of blonde layers and bright, glowing eyes like Apollo. She was short, too. From the looks of it, she was bickering with Nate.

"Poetry is one of the ways to get to a girl's heart," Nate Belmonte said carefully. His eyes narrowed at his shirt. To any normal person—heck, to any other halfblood that wasn't an Aphrodite child—wouldn't have been able to see a dirty speckle. Just looking at him made you want to go "Hey, Romeo. Where's Juliet?" He continued, "but the most romantic thing is sometimes the thing that is not always done."

"For the last time, Romeo—" Haa. Told you so. "—I don't _care_ about romance. That's not what we're even here for!" Sonny was steaming. She growled, and I had seen the method before: when one of the kids from Apollo Cabin got angry, they did a sonnet version of counting to ten. Creative little fellas, aren't they?

"But if you _really_ have to be the daughter of the God of the Arts, we're bound together, don't you think?" Nate brushed a bang out of his eye. The second he realized how long it was, his eyes widened in minor panic. Fellow watchers of the bickerers only snickered. "You woo a girl with poetry, Sonia. If it isn't _good_ poetry, then how are you going to find a girl?"

I looked over to Katie Gardner, who was always logical. There was a bouquet of crooked red roses in her hands, and she looked as annoyed as Sonny. Clarisse was rolling her eyes and even the Stoll Brothers were impatient (though it was hard to tell, they were eying the fresh cup of whatever in front of Nate).

Conner whispered something into his brother's ear, and they both snickered. Finally, I took it upon myself to intervene. "Hey!" They all looked at me and immediately halted. I was sort of surprised, but even after the war they had looked at me as if I were some leader or something. "We've got a long summer ahead of us," I said steadily. "It's stupid to be arguing over something stupid as..." I blinked. "What _are_ you arguing about?"

Katie Gardner harrumphed and fiddled with the bouquet. They soon bloomed properly and she was giving Nate a death glare. "He _claims_ that the most powerful thing we have at camp is love. Now—"

"We didn't _mind_ him spewing crap like that," Sonny Yew shrieked, hand tapping at the pool table, "but then he started going on about, 'Well, how do you think they got the phrase: all is fair in love and war?' and 'Poetry and roses are both the most romantic and cliche-est way to win over a girl.'" She was seething again, and really, it was hilarious. She was a little bit shorter than her brother, but certainly had his attitude. Not to mention the fact that Nate was forgetting she _was_ a girl.

"Yeah," Conner sniggered and mockingly messed with his hair. "Then he was telling _us_ to tell the Hermes Cabin if we're willing to go as far as steal for our _beau_, then we certainly filled out the bad boy image."

I caught Clarisse whispering irritably to Chris, "Someone's a little narcissistic..."

Nico snickered next to me—I had a feeling he got to see Narcissus clear as day while we were gone.

Chiron, who was on the other side, looked like he was finally getting a say in things when they stopped arguing. He looked at me thankfully and then around for everyone else. "As you all know, we've been doing renovations for all of the other demigods thanks to our Percy Jackson."

Everyone cheered, and I couldn't help but feel the heat rush to my face. I smiled knowingly and shrugged.

"But that also means that we have some security issues when it comes to monsters." My smile faded. All right, that was a mood-killer. Chiron looked my way and then gestured to Katie Gardner. "We unfortunately had to cut down some trees and make some room. Thalia's tree in particular grows weak without having surrounding trees. It may be the strongest point, but it is also the weakest."

I hated contradictory statements, don't you? They never made sense, but I forced myself to make logic out of this one.

"Along with the satyrs that come and go, we wish to make it Demeter Cabin's job to help replant the trees of the forests." He grumbled something else and rubbed his shoulder like there was a bruise there. "We've been getting some complaints from forest nymphs... who knew they could kick so hard."

"The Demeter Cabin is on the job," Katie said proudly. She looked over my way a second later. "We'll need some... water offerings though."

I nodded in agreement and looked at the map that had been lain out on the table. There was a coffee stain on the lower left corner, but that was always there. "How's work in expanding the other places?"

"Annabeth has most of the plans made," Simon answered. "Athena cabin will help with making sure the plans are brought out, and everyone else will be helping."

"Hermes Cabin..." Conner perked up as soon as Chiron said this. I shuddered—I had heard the news right before I left camp last year. "Hermes Cabin will personally see all of the new recruits learn this summer during the day."

"All right!" Conner threw a fist in the air with a cheeky grin, and that's where it dawned on me: where the heck was Travis?

Our attention was turned when Nate let out a girlish shriek. Travis appeared above him, Nate's cup in hand and howling with laughter. Simon sighed, and no one needed to be the child of the Goddess of Fair War, Knowledge, and pretty much Sanity to correspond when he said: "Do you really trust the future generations of this camp in the hands of the Stoll brothers?"

—

"Blue Pepsi, please." The sprite gave me a happy look and did as she was told. Out of all of the campers, I think I held the best reputation with her for being the only one to ask for different colored drinks. I grinned as I got the rest of my food aside from ambrosia and nectar.

"Hey, Seaweed Brain."

Quickly, I turned around when I recognized the voice. Annabeth stood behind me with a weak smile. She was out of her school clothes and into a pair of shorts and her Camp Halfblood T-shirt. I grinned, leaning over. "Hey yourself."

The grin on her face widened slightly, and she walked me over to the Poseidon table. From here, I saw the Nemesis table, the Iris table, the Morpheus table—et cetera. She sat down as soon as I sat down, and I couldn't help but give her a suspicious glance. It had been the first time I had seen her since we got here (about three hours ago), and the color was slowly getting back to her face. I began stuffing my face and asked how she was doing, but it came out as: "Stho An'beth, haw y'feeweeng?"

"I'm fine, Percy. I've... been fine." I stopped chewing my food. Some of it oozed out of my mouth as I looked back at her, but I knew what it meant whenever she used that tone. Annabeth pulled a lone lock of curly blond hair behind her ear and revealed the shimmering owl earrings I've always seen her with.

"Yeah...?" I asked slowly. More food oozed out of my mouth, and I took it upon myself to finally swallow.

Annabeth's eyes flickered. She looked at me suspiciously. "What?"

"...," I couldn't exactly tell her straight out what was bugging me. Quickly, I stuffed my face again and tried to mask what I was saying, but when I was masking 'You used The Tone', I had a feeling the message went through.

"What do you mean I used 'The Tone'?" Her voice was a little over an octave higher, and that was very unlike Annabeth. I practically chugged the spork in my mouth, but I hadn't anticipated for my plate to already be empty. Dammit! "Perseus Logan Jackson! Don't just eat your food nonchalantly like I'm not here!"

"Sshh!" I got up from my seat and clasped a hand over her mouth. My eyes widened and narrowed at her threateningly. "Don't just throw my middle name out in the open like that—Clarisse might hear! Do I even _look_ like a Perseus Logan?" I added quickly, "_Annabeth Alexandra Chase_?"

A splatter of pink mottled her face and she rolled her eyes. Everyone around us was snickering—did I mention that we've only been here for three hours and for the past three years Aphrodite Cabin has been naming us the best Opposite Attract couple out of the whole entire camp? Apparently our fanbase is pretty popular too. They've sold pictures and everything; I saw a kid on my way down here with a bag with a picture us—uh... well, you don't need to know that.

We continued our dinner (well, I did. Annabeth didn't have food with her) in peace as she stared at the notebook in her grasp. Most of it was written in ancient Greek, but there were some phrases here and there that I could make out. "Percy." I jumped when she said my name. Her eyes were dead on the paper and she was rubbing her temples again. "Pop quiz."

"Uh..." I had been getting up to get a third helping of food, but the look she soon gave me forced me to sit down. "Okay. Um... Who's the name of Poseidon's wife?"

"Amphitrite. Too easy." Annabeth muttered the answer with dismay and scanned the paper carefully. "Who is Zeus's favorite daughter?"

"Aphrodite?"

The death glare she was giving me made me regret my answer. "Athena."

"Oops." I offered a nervous laugh. She didn't return it. "Well uh, speaking of Aphrodite... who's one of the people she admires most?"

"Helen of Troy," she said without looking up. "How old was Helen of Troy in the middle of the war?"

"Eighteen?" I asked.

"Seventeen," Annabeth replied. "How many children are there in the Athena Cabin?"

"Umm... A lot." I scratched my head and grinned. "How many are there in the Poseidon cabin?"

"Three."

"One." I looked at her suspiciously, eyebrows arched.

She snapped out of it and looked at me in confusion. "What? Oh, sorry. I was... counting everyone else." She rubbed her head again.

"You mean Tyson?" Two seconds ago I had thought about telling her about the prophecy Rachel had prophesied to me, but she still looked too shaken. I flashed another look and frowned. Annabeth had never kept a secret from me without a good reason.

"Right, whatever." She looked back down at her notebook and began doodling a circle. Annabeth paused again, rubbed her head, and clutched her stomach. She was beginning to pale. "...I've got a hard one for you: how does a child of Athena bear a child without having sex?"

I blinked. I stared at her for a second of two, asking myself if that really could happen, and then it sort of hit me. Like, every time I say something stupid or blunt around Thalia and she whacked me over the head kind of hit. I couldn't believe how red I was turning when she reluctantly looked up at me and matched my expression. I quickly stood up and crossed to the other side of the table and said in a low voice, "Annabeth, are you...?"

"It's something I read in one of Daedalus's files." Her voice was soft and wavery, but strong and sensible. I wasn't even talking and I could already tell my voice was going to squeak seven octaves higher. She hadn't even denied it, freaked out, and slap me like I was hoping she would've. "Remember how I told you that children of Athena come from her head since she decided to remain pure?" I wasn't sure if I was nodding or shaking my head, but she continued. "It's sort of only reserved for the girls, but if they follow our mother and wish to bear a child without threatening their—uh, purity—they could end up having the baby from their head."

Was it bad that I was starting to feel relieved, or worse that I was kind of offended? "So... the baby might not even be mine?"

Okay, it was bad. Annabeth gave me the infamous girl's 'it's all your fault' look. She was blushing a little harder. "Normally I'm away from you, and you become a minor priority compared to not getting eaten. Being around you all the time since I moved to New York isn't exactly how I would avoid you."

"But I don't want to be a father by seventeen!" I stood up from the seat, hands in the air and eyes widening. If you're one of my admirers for being the great leader, there's one thing you should learn: Never, and I repeat, _never_ shout out loud 'I don't want to be a father' or any phrase of the sort in a hall full of kids.

Annabeth stood up and yanked me by the collar of my shirt before yelling out loud: "I don't care how much you say it, none of the forest nymphs will even eye you! You're not going to end up a father to a cyclops!"

Fortunately, most of them seemed to buy it, but I _was_ getting some odd looks from the Aphrodite table. She looked at me, and her eyes were beginning to water. I suddenly felt guilty. "I... I didn't mean to make you cry."

"I'm not crying," it was amazing how steady of a tone she could keep while she was hiccuping, "it's just the hormonal pregnancy moodswing crap."

My eyes slowly made their way to her tiny belly. It would have been hard to see either way if she was... you know. "Did you... take a test or something? When did that idea even come into your head?"

"I took the test yesterday, but I've known about the possibility for a month now. Maybe that's what triggered it." She wiped away the tears, and under them she hadn't looked any different. If anything, the tears were just a blank projection Annabeth was too sensible to succumb to. "It's... positive, Percy. Maybe it's just... Maybe it's just Hera trying to punish me."

"Isn't this going a bit too far?" My voice had risen once again and I was up from my seat. Everyone had silenced once again, staring at only me and Annabeth. She hadn't even bothered to yank me to my seat this time. Looking around, I shot them an irritated glare and they resumed their meals. I sat down and awkwardly pressed a hand on her knee. What was I supposed to do? Mom would kill me. Dad would kill me. The hell with what Athena _wouldn't_ do to kill me! "...how long?"

"What the hell do you mean how long?" she snapped. Forget what I said about Annabeth not succumbing to her hormones. "Nine months! Haven't you taken health class?!"

"Attention, ladies and gentlebugs!" We turned around, and the Stoll Brothers were seen at the high table along with Chiron and Mr. D. Mr. D rolled his eyes in irritation, but he always did that. If it hadn't been for the fact that Annabeth was right next to me, the impish grin Conner and Travis were exchanging would have made me forget about what I was just hearing. They exchanged having the microphone, but my head was too foggy to register which brother was which. "Now, this is the first official day of Camp Halfblood—Summer addition! And the veterans all know how we start that off, if you rookies don't!"

In a big round of applause, everyone but Annabeth and I cheered, "CAPTURE... THE... FLAG!"

The other brother snatched the mike out of his brother's hand. "Now, we normally have the main victors from last time compete, but we decided to make it interesting. Everyone know Percy Ja—I'm sorry, Percy _Logan_ Jackson and Annabeth _Alexandra_ Chase?"

A round of 'aww's' circulated through the Mess Hall. Annabeth and I offered weak smiles, and our hands awkwardly curled into each other.

"We've decided that since our super completely totally awesome babe-magnet leader finally got the girl last summer," Brother Number 1 grabbed the microphone from Brother Number 2, "that we'll make it interesting for them.

Brother Number 2 took the mike again. "Poseidon versus Athena Cabin! Percy and Annabeth are the captains!"

I really don't know what's worse: the fact that we were the captains, or the fact that the whole entire room burst into cheers without knowing what Annabeth had just told me.


	2. I Meet the Batman of the Gods

**A/N: **Okay, so... I kinda want to apologize, since I haven't read The Lightning Thief since last year, I own every other book, and I lent TLO to my friend a week ago (and who still hasn't given it back), so have the stuff isn't accurate. You'll survive though... right? Hehe.

**Chapter 2: **I Meet the Batman of the Gods

My mind was racing seven triathlons a second. I could only stare at Annabeth, and throughout the cheers everyone was giving, she was only staring at her lap. Was it wrong for me to be afraid? To be afraid that if I tore away from her, I'd think I'd lose her? I loved Annabeth, and just for her—she'd already lost so much. "I... have to think about it." I mumbled the words quietly and stood up. Her arms curled around her stomach even tighter, and she hadn't even taken my hand when I offered it. Annabeth stood up herself and had not given me another look before sauntering over to the Athena table. They stared at me with a "What the hell did you do?" look.

I crumbled as everyone had to walk out, and Annabeth and I met in the very middle. Travis and Conner Stoll were right next to us, and even though murmurs were surfacing because we hadn't started talking, Annabeth and I couldn't bring ourselves to look at each other.

"Um," started one of the brothers. I think it was Travis. "Super completely totally awesome babe-magnet leader and super completely totally awesome babe-magnet's girlfriend?"

Conner nudged me. I was staring at Annabeth's shoes and slowly working the nerve to look her in the eye. In my head I was amusing myself and wondering that even though Odysseus was able to survive all those years to journey back to his wife and Jason had ventured for the Golden Fleece if whether or not they ever had girl trouble. Quietly, I muttered, "One of us has to choose the first cabin." I added weakly, "Annie?"

"Why not you?" Her voice was steady and sensible. If I knew her the way I knew I did, she was trying to come up with a logical way to fix our... predicament. When we went on a date last November, she had told me straight out that abortion was wrong. Imagine me, awkwardly sipping one of my mom's blue milkshakes while she was going on and on about how the Gods hadn't come up with it and Hera would personally make their life a living hell. "After all, you're used to calling the shots, now aren't you?"

There was a low, eye-widening 'oooh' from the Stoll brothers. We shot them glares, and they shut up immediately. I sighed, hand running through my hair. I looked over to fellow cabin mates. There were some familiar kids who appeared in the Morpheus Cabin, and some unfamiliar faces. There were seven of them, all at different ages. "Morpheus Cabin, you're with me." Cheers burst happily as they ran to my side.

"Playing it safe?" Annabeth knew me as well as I knew her. Her tone was venomous and irritated. I saw her Yankees cap in her hand. "Ares Cabin. You're with me."

Clarisse and her siblings cheered, giving me a haughty, competitive look. I tried my best to form a smirk, but inside, I was panicking. The Goddess of Wisdom and the God of War and _Rage_ didn't exactly give me a pleasant idea about where everything would be going.

Looking up, Nico gave me an excited look of anticipation, and to that, I couldn't help but smile. "Hades Cabin. You're with me."

So right now, it was nine to a gazillion, pretty much. When I finally got the courage to look Annabeth in the eye, she had been glaring daggers at me. By the time we finished selecting all the cabins, she had gotten a lot of the offense, and I had stuck with the minor cabins. Hermes and Demeter Cabin gave me looks, probably thinking I was crazy for letting Annabeth get both the kids of the War god and the kids of the God with deadly arrow-y aim. Oh, and working with the weaponry kids, Hephaestus Cabin. That certainly gave my team a fair advantage, you know?

"They're not the only ones who can fight. We've all been taught by Chiron," I said reassuringly. I grabbed my pen from my pocket and uncapped Riptide. It expanded magnificently, and some of the other campers backed away in awe. I looked back at Annabeth, and she finally seemed more into the game."Team Poseidon chooses the South forest."

"No. You're getting the North." Annabeth glared at me so harshly that I backed away. She knew what I was thinking. "The North is closer to the beach. Don't you _dare_ make this easy on us, Percy Jackson. We're not a team to be messed with." Everyone behind her cheered happily, and she was clutching the Yankees cap even tighter.

I was taken aback, and she noticed it immediately. Travis and Conner Stoll both 'ooh'd' again, but neither she nor I had the energy to scowl at them. I looked at my team, who seemed a bit more reassured. As we put on the armor, I let out a battle cry and we were off far in the North.

My mind had drifted back to Annabeth. It was both a surprise and really wasn't the way she was reacting. I'd only seen Annabeth cry a few times since I met her, and there was a good reason for all of it. Something such as this was where knowledge and love kind of clashed. If it had been any other person—any _mortal—_they would be sobbing and freaking out with her life over and blah blah blabitty blah. My mother likes to keep her soaps on when she makes dinner and refuses to let me change the channel, so I kind of had an idea about how a girl "pregnant with my mother's poolboy's cousin's nephew's fourth daughter-in-law removed's son" worked out. They ended up together, if you're wondering. Annabeth was thinking of a logical reason behind what would happen—I just knew it. But everything she had been planning for, everything she was planning to _be_ was my fault.

Between her and me, I'm pretty sure neither of us knew to be a good parent. My mom and her dad would be good examples, but I doubt going up to Percy Jr. and breastfeeding him or her would be a good example.

"Boss?" I snapped out of it and looked over to my team. Katie Gardner stared at me expectantly and arched an eyebrow.

"Uh... right," I mumbled. My eyes had fallen to the Morpheus Cabin, and they all suddenly look petrified. Their cabin leader, Dreama Goodwin matched my curious look. "I want you guys to guard our flag. If anyone comes within distance... how long can you knock them out for?"

Dreama yawned and rubbed her eyes. "Four... maybe five...?"

I blinked. "Seconds or minutes?"

"Days?"

"Ummm. An hour or so will do." She nodded her head and yawned again. I scratched my head, turning to the others. "Nico, Katie, Travis and Conner. You're with me. Demeter Cabin, stay at the border of the river. If anyone passes, fight them and bind them to the trees. Uh, if the forest nymphs let you."

They all nodded. "Hermes Cabin," I continued. They looked at me expectantly, and I hesitated with my next command. "Steal their weapons. Annabeth's hat too, if you can."

Travis and Conner both 'aww'd' for not being able to do it themselves, but the rest of the cabin howled with cheers. I smiled a little bit and clutched Riptide closer. There was a rustle in the bushes, and quickly I looked their way, eyes narrowed. "Everyone else: scour. Take down anyone you think is going to steal the flag and make sure they keep their grimy hands off of them. But," I glared and pointed Riptide their way. "if _any_ of you even harm my girlfriend, I'll make sure _personally_ that your stay at this camp for the rest of summer is a living hell. Got it?"

Everyone quieted, including the Stoll Brothers. I had woken up some of Dreama's siblings, and they gulped looking my way. They were quiet until one of the kids from Nemesis Cabin said loud and clearly, "That's unfair waving your power like that!" Her siblings shushed her.

We immediately broke, and Nico and the rest of them were behind me as the others got into motion. Travis and Conner caught up at my side before any of the others using speed from their father. Both had matching nervous grins. We halted five yards from the river. Clarisse along with a few other campers were scrutinizing our side of the river.

Katie Gardner gave me a questioning look, and I nodded. She whispered some words to a nearby tree, and that was when the three boys attacked me with questions.

"What's with you lately, Percy?" Nico asked worriedly. "you were fine when you got here, but at dinner..."

"At dinner is none of your business," I snapped quietly. His eyes widened and he was offended, but he quickly drift away. The guilt bubbled at my stomach. "Sorry, Nico. It's... complicated."

We moved again when we heard shrieks from Clarisse and her siblings. I grinned at Katie, who pointed to her fellow siblings that were catching up with us. We crossed the river (I was the only one who didn't get wet since I could go in and out as I pleased like that) and stopped at a couple of trees. Nico took the time going ahead to report whether or not there were any after Clarisse.

"I haven't seen Annabeth yet," Travis Stoll suddenly remarked. I looked his way, and he was scratching his head and frowning.

"_Don't_ touch her," I grumbled. They gave me another look, and I sighed and tried to keep my cool. Even if Annie and I just had a fight, I don't exactly think she'd appreciate me spilling her and my guts out.

"Just the head's up, Percy," Katie sighed listlessly, "girls don't exactly like having a possessive boyfriend."

"No, that's what mother-in-laws don't like with their daughter and possessive husband," Conner snickered to Travis. Nico and Katie shot them both glares, but for two entirely different reasons.

"HAH!" We turned our heads, but Katie let out a high shriek. When we looked over, Conner and Katie had been trapped via net and Travis was panicking. A flurry of arrows flung our way, signaling that the Apollo Cabin knew that we were here.

"Run Percy, Run!" Katie screamed it at the top of her lungs, and Nico and I didn't have to think twice when we went forward with yelps.

"Split up!" I called to Nico. "See if you can find the flag and get it ASAP!" He nodded in response, and soon I was alone in the middle of the forest. I tensed and kept my guard up. Now would have been the best time to say how completely and utterly stupid I was to be competing with a cabin full of strategists. I had been running for a long time now, and had only stopped when I ran straight into a tree and let out a big and heavy "OW!"

Cloaking myself, I looked around carefully. I finally saw it as clear as day: the Athena Flag. It was a simple gray flag with a proud owl glowing in the moonlight at the front. I looked around. No one was guarding it.

So, if I was stupid to not think more thoroughly about going against strategists with a heck of a lot of brawns on their hands, then I was stupider if I was going to tread out there with no one around. I contemplated on calling for Nico and telling him I was here, but that would have given away my location. A lot of the other demigods around were near the borderline and on our territory, but other than that, I hadn't seen any near me. The trap that caught Katie and Conner signaled that the Athena Cabin obviously wasted no time planting traps everywhere. So why hadn't I found any?

I sighed, looking at the flag with hungry eyes. There were no cries and no screams, so it could've been assumed that the Morpheus Cabin had done their job and made sure that no one had gotten close to our flag. There was a voice lingering in the back of my mind. It sounded a bit familiar, but I couldn't place a finger on it. _"Time is running out, now isn't it, Percy? If you keep waiting, you'll never get what you want."_

There wasn't any reason why I should've, but I wanted to listen to the voice. Time wasn't my friend right now. I blinked slowly and ventured out, thinking to myself: _What would Annabeth do?_ "Annabeth would..." I whispered quietly, "leave a land mine twenty-two and a half inches away from the bushes!" I jumped up and dodged the thing—it was at least a foot wide. Twisting my angle, I landed to the other side and gently blew over the dusty field. I was right.

I scanned the area again, but it was hard to see under the moonlight. The only thing that was clear to me was the flag in the middle of a mount. _"They're already there, Percy. You're running out of time—just grab the flag! You know you want to!" _I snapped out of my thoughts, wondering who the voice was. Slowly, I made my way forward, but was immediately tackled back by something. With a big "OOF!", I fell to the ground and groaned. I finally looked up, but no one was in front of me. It had to be Annabeth.

"Isn't that a little unfair?" I called out a little irritably. I clutched Riptide closer and held its point out in front of me. Turning clockwise, I waited for it to clang against something, but it didn't. Instead, I heard rustling behind me. I jabbed my elbow into the ambusher, and a feminine cry was heard. Immediately, I turned around, sword in hand. The hat had fallen off of Annabeth's head and she was on the ground cursing. She tackled me before I got the chance to help her up, and pinned me to a tree. I caught my breath and dropped Riptide.

She glared at me, teeth gritted. "You're making this too easy."

It was stupid of me, but I shrugged. Slowly, the words formed in my head. "You... didn't want to talk to me after you told me the news."

Her voice was quiet, but she pressed the knife against my neck. "You told me yourself that you didn't want to be a father at seventeen."

"I doubt you want to be a mother at seventeen either." I muttered. She pushed the knife closer to my throat. "Annabeth, you're smarter than this. You think of everything _including_ the worst case scenerio!"

"_Percy!_" She let go of me, and I slid against sharp bark. Annabeth paced back and forward, hands in the air. "_Just for once!_" She quieted, brushing her hand over her elbow and looking solemnly at the dirt. Annabeth's tone was so soft that I could barely hear her over the crickets. "Gods... just for once, I thought you'd be understanding. I thought... I _hoped_ that you wouldn't freak out and that you weren't going to pull away from me. I've lost a lot of things in my life, Percy." Her eyes glittered, and I wasn't sure if it was from hormonal tears again or because it was just how Annabeth rolled. "I don't want to lose you."

For a second, I had opened my mouth to speak. That was how it worked between her and me—there was never a pause between us, no matter how brief. We said how we felt, and I wanted to tell her about the prophecy Rachel had told me. My hand felt into my pocket, and Riptide had reappeared there. My eyes were on the flag. Four years ago, when we had first met, this had been the distance we felt between each other.

_"Haven't you ever wished that time could stand still_?" The voice in my head needed to shut up.

The distance felt different—there was a valid reason behind it, and it hurt. "If...," I heard myself speak, "if I can make it past you and get that flag, then we talk about this, whether you like it or not. If you defeat me before I do, then you can do what you want. Force me to speak, force me to do anything. I'll do it, no complaints. And if you choose for this to be..." I tried to choose the right word. "the end of us, then go for it. Okay?"

Her eyes softened again, and her tears glistened in the moonlight. Whether it be hormonal or not, it was too painful to see her cry. "Okay."

At first, I was reluctant, but I charged at her, Riptide strong in my hands. I waved it before me, and she kicked it in response. Quickly, I twisted it and nudged her in the torso with the hilt of my sword. Even though I was supposed to be focused on getting the flag, my eyes had landed on the white streak of hair that was in her ponytail. I had the same one just like it, from the time we had faced Atlas and had to hold the sky up. She fell to the ground and I made a run for the flag.

Wrong move. If you thought that the Athena Cabin was clever and fast enough to set traps before, they pretty much out did themselves when the owl on the flag had come to life and jabbed at my armor with its talons. It didn't hurt—I had bathed in the River of Styx before and my weakest point was at the small of my back. Still, it tackled me to the ground and then recovered at its flag. That was _so_ cheating!

Annabeth took the opportunity to come at me with Riptide, who had fallen out of my hands. She held it weakly in the air (if you didn't know, halfbloods have to work hard to find a balanced sword. Chiron had given it to me at first when I thought he was just my history teacher) and flung it at me. I rolled away quickly and had to stop myself from setting off the land mine that Annabeth had planted. Annabeth had gotten me a good five yards away from the flag. She walked slowly and grabbed her cap from the ground. Eyes narrowed at me. Her cheeks were red and she was huffing.

Ever since Paul had started believing us when we told him about all of the adventures I've been on, he'd bought more books about Greek mythology and had me studying here and there. Even though I pointed out to him that I was dyslexic, he had read to me about Hera, and theorized that since she didn't go about and sleep with mortals, she was a little bit lazy. Now, before he went around and angered the Goddess of Childbirth and Marriage, he had meant that it could have been one of the reasons why women had to rest while they were pregnant, otherwise they were punished by the Goddess themselves by miscarriages and stuff.

The plan formed in my head before I had a chance to slow down from the adrenaline, and I lunged toward Annabeth, Riptide in hand. There was no plan of stopping, and she had dropped her battle stance easily with surprise when I charged without even slowing for a proper attack. The second she dropped her guard, I dropped my sword and gently as possible slammed her into a tree. My forehead rested on hers and I pinned her hands and legs against the bark. She struggled and screeched, trying to loosen my grip, but I wouldn't give.

"You should rest now, it's bad for you and the baby, isn't it?" I asked quietly. If I was thinking about it or not, I did _not_, repeat, DID NOTwant the Queen of the Gods to punish my girlfriend. Annabeth suddenly stopped, and she felt like butter in my hands. She looked up at me again, and we stayed like that. "...are you crying?"

She mumbled something about "hormonal crap" and looked away. A cry was then heard, and in came the Athena Cabin with the Poseidon flag in their hands. It changed quickly into Athena's sign, and I had let go of Annabeth out of shock. She slumped to the ground, eyes on the ground before she finally said, "You lose."

—

The next couple of days were a blur. Annabeth had stayed with her siblings, and I was reduced to sticking with the Stoll Brothers, Katie Gardner, Nico, and a lot of the other cabin leaders. Maybe it had just become some unspoken bond after all that had happened, but we were just seen together after the war. Like, "Ooh, we're all the cabin leaders and camp versions of our parents. Fear us."

Everyone was starting to wonder why the happy couple who had come here all lovey-dovey was miserable and not even seeing eye-to-eye. Nico was prying me for answers every time he saw me, and Katie had already suspected we had broken up. I think I heard the Stoll Brothers the other day betting whether or not it was because Rachel was following me around like a lost puppy the second I got here or because I was apparently jealous that Annabeth "still had the hots for Luke."

They stopped betting about that the second I found out and ran away scared pantless.

"Percy."

I snapped out of my thoughts. Katie Gardner and Sonny Yew looked at me expectantly.

"Huh?" I asked blankly. It had been a good four days since I had seen Annabeth. The whole Athena Cabin was now shunning me, and Alvin, a little nine-year-old Athena boy, had come up to me during campfire songs last night just to kick me in the shin.

Sonny Yew pointed to one of the newly planted trees and grumpily muttered, "The new nymph of this tree says she'll be able to grow by the end of the summer, but she wants you to water her." She added, rolling her eyes in annoyance, "**Personally**. **Every single day.** For the rest of the summer."

I heard a giggle in the back of my head. Staring at the pile of dirt, I shrugged and unscrewed the lid on my canteen. I dumped the water absentmindedly, mind still on the subject of Annabeth and our future. We've never had an argument before, but I've seen Chris Rodriguez and Clarisse get into a couple. He told me the best thing to do when handling someone as stubborn as his girlfriend was to give her space to clear her head. ...then grovel.

"Percy! That's too much!" Katie snatched the canteen from my hand and glared impatiently. Instead, it faded and she rolled her eyes. "Okay fine. She says that if you keep that up, you have to marry her."

My eyes widened slightly and I stared at the wet pile. A little twig could already be seen sprouting. I was already in trouble with Hera as it was. I really didn't want to add onto the heap of things. _"Time is a bitter thing when you're in love, isn't it?"_ I had been getting the same lecture from that voice about time for a while now. Worst part? I was the only one that heard it. I hadn't even gotten the chance to talk to Chiron about the new prophecy and what it meant.

"OW!" Turning around, I saw Sonny holding her finger up with a big fat splinter between her fingernail and finger. Those were painful. Katie was a bit farther along, so she didn't see what had just happened. I came up to Sonny and unscrewed the cap of my canteen again.

"Stupid plants," she growled. "I like them; they _hate_ me!"

Have I mentioned how funny I found that? Her father, Apollo, was known for his tragic love with Daphne, who selflessly turned into a tree to avoid him. He loved the tree, the tree hated him. Maybe that was genetic. "Just relax," I said slowly. I poured the water over her wound to wash out any dirt and slowly took the splinter out with my own fingers. She whimpered and shook, but as soon as it was finally out, she sighed in relief.

"It wasn't that bad," she quickly said. Looking at it, it quickly healed on its own like it hadn't been there in the first place.

I couldn't help but smile. Michael had told me a little about her before; how she was two years younger than me. Sonny reached midway between my chest and my belly button. Don't ever tell anyone I ever said this, but it was like watching a cute little kitten play with a ball of yarn the way she huffed. "I promise not to tell your cabin that you were almost defeated by a little splinter."

She glared at me for what seemed like an eternity, before she finally harrumphed again and folded her arms. "Katie! I still don't get it!"

"What?" She looked our way and rushed back.

Sonny looked at her, lip pushed out and hand rubbing her chin. "How could Annabeth and Percy possibly be having a fight? He's tall, suave, handsome, and... did I mention tall?"

..._What?_ Katie Gardner nodded her head at everything spewing from Sonny's mouth. She observed me with her forest green eyes. "And he's got that cute beach bum tan going for him and such. Sometimes his hair starts to curl after drying from salt water, so it kinda looks a bit cuter too. Percy's gotten buffer after all of this."

"Well, I guess he is a little bit on the childish side," Sonny mumbled. Both of them circled me and eyed me like a piece of meat. Dude, this was the most awkward thing that has ever happened to me.

Katie poked me in the chest. Unlike Sonny, she was more than a foot taller, but a little shorter than Annabeth. "But he's got good leadership qualities. Not a bragger, and even refused the offer to become immortal."

"Ah," Sonny said.

"Yup," Katie said.

"You guys are so... _weird,_" I rolled my eyes and got out of their probing circle. We continued our rounds, but it was a bit humiliating since both Katie and Sonny were still pointing out my flaws and good points, and even asking their siblings about it.

Now, I have a question for you. What the hell does a girl mean when they're commenting and saying that you've got a cute butt?

"Could you tell us what the fight's about, Percy?" Katie asked after an hour of work. We could already smell the bonfire a couple of yards back.

I paused, refilling the canteen with water. Finally confess to one of my friends that something has been bugging me about my girlfriend (are we still even dating anymore?) , even though said friend is a girl and might kill me because girlfriend (no seriously, are we still going out?) is pregnant with my future child even though I haven't even touched her.

Or, I thought logically, don't tell anything and keep the rumors from spreading. And if I did that, I would still live, which was a plus.

"It's nothing you need to worry about," I said slowly. I scratched my head and followed her to plant the last seed of the day. She was shoveling a hole in the ground. Sonny Yew was behind me, grabbing more water and sprinkling it herself on other trees.

"Well, if you want a girl's insight of it," Katie said between grunts, "it's normally the guy's fault." She started mumbling stuff about Hades kidnapping Persephone and some other stuff, but it was something to expect from the Demeter Cabin. And cereal. Lots, and lots of cereal.

"Gee, thanks," I said sarcastically. It wasn't like I didn't agree with her; I had expected too much out of Annabeth. As much as she and I would've wanted it, she wasn't the tough Wise Girl that I've grown to know throughout the years all the time. She had her moments, and I needed to be there for her. I mean, a couple days back I was jealous because she had plans and I didn't. That was the thing, wasn't it? _She had plans_. I _didn't_.

"I can show you how to grow a bouquet of flowers quickly," Katie smiled sympathetically as she put the last seed into the ground and began dumping dirt above it. "she likes daisies, right?"

I nodded. The reason she liked them so much was because of how common they were. They were simple, but always in groups. If you were to pluck one and manage to kill it, there were still like a kajillion more where that came from. "It's not something that flowers can fix though."

"Whatever! Just don't make up _yet!_" Sonny looked my way with a blinding pearly white grin. She plopped the bucket of water right next to me. "The Aphrodite Cabin is going _crazy_! They think that because you're not together, it's the end of camp as we know it!"

"And Hermes Cabin is freaking out since they're running out of images for their Percabeth merchandise," mumbled Katie. She rolled her eyes and sighed. "Water!"

I poured my water obediently and the word clicked in my head. "Wait... _Percabeth?_"

"Yeah," Katie looked at me like I was crazy. "It's a portmanteau of your name and Annabeth's." My eyes widened. "Percy, you were offered the gift from the gods! Everyone knows that you've had a crush on Annabeth since you first got here!"

My jaw dropped.

Katie looked at me sternly, hands on her hips. It reminded me of her mother. "Remember when you had blacked out for a week when you first got here as a rookie? I came to feed you ambrosia one time when you were half conscious and you were mumbling something about a Princess with golden blond hair."

Color rushed to my face. I looked back to the ground and scratched my head. "Oh."

The two silenced for a second while we began walking back. I heard Katie say to Sonny, "He likes you, you know. That's why he's trying to talk to you about poetry and stuff."

A squabbled "Shut up!" left Sonny's mouth as she huffed again.

Snickering softly, I turned back around and saw Annabeth staring at us with a clipboard in hand. Her gray eyes were wide, as if she couldn't believe I was hanging out with the two of them, but when her eyes met me, it quickly left and she went back to directing the Hephaestus Cabin.

I halted, staring at her for what seemed like ages. It must have been from my own troubled thoughts, but even though the voice from before wasn't with me, I couldn't help but think to myself, _Time is running out._ If Annabeth and I weren't going to speak to each other again, she would end up with someone else. Maybe with someone from the Hephaestus cabin, to go along with becoming an architect. She'd have Percy Jr., I'd have no say in whether or not I got to see him/her because I technically was a jerk and really didn't deserve to, and would just be a lonely hero doing nothing.

Really, turning down the offer to become immortal was becoming more and more of a regret.

We would have just been like that for the rest of eternity; Annabeth standing there with clipboard in hand directing the Hephaestus Cabin, and me standing there just watching her, if Katie and Sonny hadn't shoved me in her direction. I would've collided into her if it hadn't been for my own two feet.

Still, Annabeth looked surprised that I was in front of her. I stared at her stomach again. When was it going to swell? "Um... hi." I mumbled.

"Jacob, tell Eddie to place the beams two centimeters to the left." Annabeth looked up when she was asked a question. "No, _my_ left."

Okay, so I was bombing. I looked over to Sonny and Katie and made a gesture with my finger across my neck. They glared at me threateningly, and I really didn't want to wake up tomorrow morning covered in thorns and forced to rhyme for the rest of the time. ...crap.

"Look," I started as I followed her. It could have just been me, but as soon as I did, all of the machinery and everyone's chattering stopped. "I know I lost at Capture the Flag. And that I said that if you won, I had to back off and stuff, but I just wanted you to know... I didn't mean to freak out and stuff. I panicked."

She was ignoring me. That was annoying. I kept following her, and I was definitely sure by then that everyone was watching as we did this. I think I even heard a few snaps from a camera, too.

"You don't have to talk back," I continued slowly. I scratched my head and looked at the ground, defeated. The words slipped out of my mouth before I could do anything about it. "maybe we should... take a break, Annabeth. We want different things, and until we can click properly to get this working, we can't plan ahead."

And she still wasn't talking. I was so frustrated at this point that I wanted to try anything. "What do you want me to do?" I shouted in aggravation. "What do you _think_ we should do?!"

"I want you to stop deciding things; I want you to stop running away!" She twirled around, eyes narrowed and teeth gritted. Everyone and everything was silent. My scowl had faded and I stared at her in awe. No sound was made until someone had accidentally dropped a stupid plank on the ground. Annabeth turned to that person, eyes red and scowled. "What?! Keep working; I didn't tell you you could stop!"

They scurried along, and Pollux had even tripped as he ran through the area. I felt like an idiot. I felt _angry. _"What do you mean by running away?"

"That's what you do, Percy." Her eyes narrowed, and they were watering again. She shrieked, rubbing the tears and cursing it on the stupid hormonal stuff again. "Whenever it's rough, you think you're the big hero and can solve it yourself, and then stuff happens, okay? You _run._ Sometimes you just don't want to do it anymore and you doubt you can."

"But I pull through!" She glared at me and rubbed her eyes again, mumbling about the hormonal stuff once again. Part of me was just wondering though: was that really what it was?

"Forget it, Percy." Her voice wavered, and she turned around. "Just forget it. You're right; we'll take a break."

"What?" My eyes widened, and I followed her again, heart racing. "But—!"

"_Percy._" I had to halt at that. The tone she used was too strong for me to rebel. She gave me one last look, eyes swollen, and walked off.

—

That night, I had a dream. The thing about this dream is that demigods never have a dreams that are just dreams. They normally mean something, but this one made no sense. There was a man running away from something big and familiar—the Minotaur. It was chasing after a him, but he was lucky enough to be a few yards ahead of it. A little girl was on his back and clutching him for safety.

"It's okay, honey," He said. "Your brother's fine—he's with your mother." Something about that only made my skin crawl; I was scared to death. The little girl on his back held him tighter and buried her head under his neck, right under his ear.

A sword was in one of his hands, and he was clenching it tightly. It was Riptide, I realized. That man was me!

I (well, the dream me) slashed the Minotaur with Riptide. The Minotaur retaliated by grabbing the older me with his claws. The little girl rolled off his back and hit her head against a big rock.

"No!" Dream Me cried in panic. Turning my head, dream Percy growled angrily and kicked in the grip. "Hey, thanks for the reunion, but unless you've got some Pepsi and some steak in your back pocket, I don't want to see you!" He charged at it, blinded by rage. He kicked, punched, and stabbed at him, and finally he seemed to lose, falling to the ground limply. Dream Percy had run to the little girl and helped her up; there was a large gash on her forehead, but it didn't seem deep. She whimpered, curling into my form. "Are you okay, squirt?"

She started to cry, murmuring a jumble of words I couldn't understand. But something was missing. My dream self didn't sense it, but I did. When I turned around, I saw him: the Minotaur, loud and clear.

"Why haven't you dissolved?" My dream self asked. Riptide was in his hands, and he was clutching it so tightly that his fists were turning white.

Someone appeared next to the Minotaur; someone I didn't recognize. Her hair was dark and lustful, cascading all the way to her feet. Her eyes were as dark as night. "Do the Fates dare snip his thread again? I think not, dear Perseus Jackson."

Dream Percy stared at the person for a while the same way I did. His eyes widened, and he muttered her name: Nyx. Nyx, as in the Goddess of the Night. That wasn't a good thing. _At all._

"Honey," He said gently to the little girl. A broad smile crossed his face and she got up and hiccuped. He muttered some other words and she nodded obediently before blindly running the same direction they had been going in the first place. He then bowed at Nyx's presence. I did the same, because she sort of looked away and looked like she was staring right at the real me. "What an honor it is to see you."

"Sure it is," Nyx said sarcastically. She had the appearance of a young woman. Her ivory skin glowed and was the only thing that contrasted with the rest of her. "The Fates are dying, Perseus Jackson. I hope you realize that."

Apparently both older me and the real me still had the same sense of humor, because we snorted at that statement. Dream Me looked up again. "Why?"

"Why, what? Kill a morbidly old woman?" Her laugh was so annoying. It was sort of like Mozart in that one movie Annabeth made me watch a couple of months back. "He seeks revenge on you, dear Perseus. Time is not your friend." She had a deadly smirk, laughing yet again. I wanted to slap her silly. "Give up now, and we'll spare you, your wife, and your kids."

Uh oh. The Dream Me looked like he was contemplating it. He looked back up, sea green eyes glaring angrily. "Do I get to tell her?"

"No. Go now. I will _personally_ see it that they leave that petty camp alone." Her black eyes flickered in this cool but creepy dark way. "I swear by the River of Styx."

She was lying—even if she swore by the river. She's lying! I screamed it over and over, but now I knew why Thalia and Annabeth thought I was an idiot. Dream Me was hesitant, but he stared at his Riptide and mumbled a few words to it before finally dropping it. "I'll come."

"_No!" _I screamed at the top of my lungs. "_Don't go! That little girl is wondering where you __are__, you moron!" _But I was loyal. I finally realized what Athena meant by it. The plan that my dream self had was slapping me silly in the face, but I hated it. If I could keep the camp safe for everyone by sparing just my life, then I was amazing.

"When will I see my kids again?" Dream Me asked quietly.

Nyx's high laugh was heard again. I wanted to punch her out. "All in good time, my dear."

And that's when it dawned on me.

—

I had woken up. There wasn't any grogginess, there wasn't any complaining, I just woke up. It was in the middle of the night, and I was dressed in nothing but a pair of boxers when I walked out of the Poseidon Cabin. I walked; barefoot with my head in the clouds. It was making sense with each step that I took, especially who that voice was. I walked steadily, not even saying ow when I stepped on a stupid pebble. Some of the forest nymphs giggled when they saw me pantless, but I had also heard a familiar shriek (from Juniper, I think), and just continued my way.

Finally, I made it to a clearing. It made sense. All of it made sense. It was the same clearing that I had seen in my dream. I was there by the time the sun began to rise, and I could have sworn I even heard Apollo playfully wolf whistle in my ears.

"My my, is it that time again?"

Stop with the stupid puns already, I gritted my teeth. Riptide was in the form of its pen in my hand.

"It's nice to see you again, Perseus Jackson."

"Likewise," I said slowly. "Kronos."

**—**

**A/N: **Hey, just a quick question a little after the story picks up. Obviously, the new Great Prophecy has been prophesied and everyone's been making a fanfic about it. I only need like, six other people, but if you guys are interested, why not start an RPG about it with the best RPers here? I mean, I'm not really considered a 'best', but summer's here and it'd be fun. PM me if you're interested, okay? Stay tuned for the next chapter. :D Thanks to everyone who reviewed!


	3. I Get Seriously Warped

**A/N:** Thanks for the awesome reviews guys! I hope you're having fun with the story, it's so fun to write. C: Stay tuned; it just gets juicier!

**Chapter 3: **I Get Seriously Warped

So for all of you out there who have been reading to know whether or not you're a demigod from my experiences, I'm sure you've had it sticky-noted somewhere that Kronos needs a host body to be revived. And time. Lots, and lots of time.

If you looked at Kronos right now—and yes, I'm completely certain that this was Kronos—his skin was a kind of tan that you could only get during the summer. His hair was a rich, woody auburn color, and he was my very height. His eyes were the only thing I recognized; glowing and fierce to their brim. Not only was his appearance different, but his whole entire aura was off the charts. It had no resemblance to when Kronos fpossessed Luke; the process looked close to permanent.

Under the rising sun, his form flickered between the kid he was possessing and a tall man who had the eyes of Zeus, the skin of Hades, and the demeanor of Poseidon. His fingers curled around his scythe; the thing that he was known for the best.

"So," I said slowly, "you already rise from the ashes, or is this just some stupid prank with a voice disguiser, kid?" Everything that had happened to me up to this point made sense. _Everything_, but how all of this could happen. All of the minor gods and their children had a place at the camp now. There was only a minuscule chance that Kronos was able to find an army.

Each time I blinked, he seemed to change form. Maybe it was just my own conscious, but my instincts had told me to make note of Kronos's host. Kronos lightly chuckled and tapped the end of his scythe against the ground. "All those years ago when we fought, dear Percy. I'm not stupid—I know every move you make; every move you anticipate _me_ to make."

What was he talking about? I saw him last year when he had first dissolved. I uncapped Riptide, and it quickly expanded to my liking. Kronos didn't look intimidated.

"Oh _that_ old thing?" he spat. He sighed warily and rolled his eyes. "Don't underestimate me, Percy Jackson. I can think of so many ways to rid you of that sword if I just stood in this very spot.." He had me pinned to the tree before I blinked.

Let me tell you something: don't go prancing around Camp Halfblood in your boxers. If you can feel all the pain of your body in just the small of your back, it's going to hurt more than seven hundred of Apollo's arrows aimed at your skull.

The smug smile didn't leave his face. He had me pinned and was choking me. All I could focus on was the small of my back and how even that tiny scrape was killing me.

Finally, he had morphed into the boy again, and I kneed him in the stomach. It hadn't hurt him—I heard the same noise when I tried that move on Luke last summer. The kid had bathed in the River of Styx. He only laughed, even in his kid form. Kronos pressed the scythe harder against my neck. The blade slithered my way, and I struggled to regain control.

The scythe didn't hurt me, it wouldn't have unless it hit my vital point. I grabbed it the same way he did and pushed my weight back into the tree. I wasn't as strong as Kronos; I knew that for a fact. I at least had to try, and it worked.

Unfortunately, it wasn't a balanced scythe. The second he let go of it and fell to the ground, his scythe had gotten as heavy as Blackjack and plummeted into dirt, my fingers right under it.

Obviously, that wasn't the brightest move. I grabbed Riptide from the ground and jumped in front of the scythe. "What kid did you manage to trick into that doing? Has he even gotten out of Pre-K?" Then again, I hadn't either. That's another story though.

"Let's just say I have a wonderful great granddaughter," Kronos got up and I wanted to wipe the stupid smirk off his face.

There was a gauntlet that covered his wrist. When Luke had bathed in the River, he had made a small place there his weak point. I tackled him with Riptide, but Kronos was right when he said he had come prepared.

He dodged as if he already anticipated my move, and when I recovered and tried the move that followed it, he rammed his elbow into my head. If I wasn't close to invincible, I would have gotten a really, really, _really_ bad concussion. Instead, I stumbled back to my post where his scythe had been. I then looked down, and my eyes widened.

It was gone.

Kronos cackled again, and it reminded me a bit of Nyx. The scythe was in his hand, clear as day, as he muttered some Ancient Greek. His eyes were aroused, and soon they were only half open. "Really, Percy? _Really_? After observing your moves for so much time now, don't you think I would have charmed my scythe to be able to do that? I come back all this way, and you're a far worse opponent than I remember."

"Then why was it so easy to kick your butt?" I dared to smirk, but a little bit of me was worried. What if that wasn't his weak spot? What if I wasn't the one to defeat him this time? I had to call the others, but at earliest, it was four in the morning. Not even Grover would come to my aid if he were around. Besides... What did he mean by 'come back all this way'? I charged at him again, sliding under his legs. Fortunately, he hadn't expected that, so I quickly maneuvered Riptide and the hilt of it at his spinal cord.

Remember what I said about that not expected thing? Totally wrong. He turned around, and he had did _something_ with Riptide at an odd end, but I didn't know what. He pointed at me, and I was paralyzed in spot, and all that could move were my eyes.

This would have been _really_ cool if it wasn't me that he had done it to.

My eyes fell to Riptide, and if I could move my mouth, I would have gawked. There was a crack. A really deep, really heavy crack. If I were to move the sword, the very tip of it would be dangling in the middle of the air.

It was coming back to me now. He wasn't just Father of the Gods, he was the _God of Time_. Kronos didn't gather an army between the time we supposedly killed him to now, he was from the_ future._ When he looked at me again with those glowing eyes, I had a feeling he was probing my thoughts.

He chuckled. "Yes, I am from the future, Percy Jackson." Kronos unfroze me, and I fell forward. He froze me again, and the tip of his blade found its way to my back.

He knew where my weak point was.

"Why are you going back in time to mess with me when there's some people the future who can kick your butts?" I snapped. I flinched, feeling the blade graze my skin. He hadn't penetrated skin, but he was taunting me. "What, they don't kick it as hard as I do?"

His blade dug into my skin, and I caught my breath. Blood wasn't even oozing from the wound yet and I was beginning to black out.

Kronos did something I completely didn't expect: he let me go.

I fell to the ground with another 'oof!' and whirled around, groaning. Kronos laughed at my pain and stared me down. "Do you really want to know why I decided to mess with the past, dear Perseus Jackson?" He hadn't given me the time to nod. After all, his question was rhetorical; all evil villains needed the time to gloat. "I'm here to destroy you. History in the future says that you defeated me. I simply plan to correct things."

"_Correct things_?"

"Yes. Change certain events, say—keep you from ever being born." He grinned evilly at me.

My sword was right next to me. I don't think he noticed in the middle of his boasting. My hand crept for it and my eyes didn't leave him. "Then why not just go straight to when my mother first met my father?" I was really, really hoping that I wasn't giving him ideas.

Never stare a god in the face. When you do, you see that mischievous, evil twinkle he gets in his glowing eyes. "I want to see my grandson suffer and the look he has when I finally kill him."

"How sentimental." I snatched Riptide and lunged for Kronos again. He didn't expect it, and I took the advantage to delve my blade into his wrist. He didn't yowl. It didn't even penetrate skin. It would have bounced right off if I wasn't holding it. That was worse. His wile grin would have made children cry. My inner child, for one, was bawling.

His scythe slashed before me, but I tumbled and rolled behind him. We went on like this for what seemed like an eternity. The sun finally rose at its peak, and I had out run him to the creek. He was far behind me, laughs and all as I studied the position of the sun. Seven o'clock; eight at most.

I took the golden drachma that I always kept handy around my neck and fumbled to make a gleam with Riptide. "Oh great Iris, please accept this drachma as an offering," I said hurriedly. Kronos's presence was skinning my back with each of his slow steps. I threw the drachma into the creek. "Mr. D! _Please_!"

"Why run, Percy?" I shuddered and flung around.

The water engulfed me before I had the time to do a full 360 turn, and I prayed to my father not to let him find me. It seemed to work since he had paused. I could see him clear as day, but he couldn't see me. He scanned for a while and then looked directly at me. I didn't move. I needed at least another minute if the wound on my back was going to make a full recovery.

"You underestimate me, Percy Jackson." He dug his scythe into the water and pulled me out by the throat like a fish on a hook fifty-nine seconds earlier than I needed to rest. I hated the smirk he was giving. "I'm from the future, remember? I know every move you'll make before you make it."

"Fun," I managed to choke. He chuckled, tossing me aside like a helpless rat.

There was one problem about that: he slammed my back straight into a sharp piece of bark. I yowled at the top of my head, unable to keep from succumbing from the pain. My eyes blurred and I squinted, slipping into and out of consciousness. Blood was leaking from my back, and my eyes became fuzzy.

Kronos had his head held high and mighty. I could only see him from small creases of my eyes, but from his look, he wasn't even going to bother finishing me off. I wasn't sure if I should have been relieved or annoyed I wasn't worthy enough. Instead, he had waved his scythe, and I had a good feeling I knew where he was going.

In the background, I heard a high, familiar cry "Percy!", but they were too late to save me.

Instead, I had Riptide in my hand and thrust forward. If it was going to be my last breath, then I wanted to be able to go through with saying I tried to bring Kronos down.

I only slashed him in the gut, but I wouldn't forget the look that was on his face. He yelped a not Kronos-y cry, a giant flash erupted when we collapsed into each other. I closed my eyes to shield myself from the light. They were tightly shut, and when I finally had the nerve to open them, he was gone.

The world was dizzy around me. The water hadn't given me enough time to heal my wound, and I was half blind at that point. Kronos had found it—the most vulnerable place on my body and he might have actually killed me because of it. It was going to heal, but half of me was scared that it wouldn't.

Going into the creek was a blur when I rolled into it. My body wouldn't let me get up because it hurt too much, and when I finally succeeded with getting into the water, it felt like acid against my skin.

I was atrophying to a numb feeling just resting like that. The sensible reasons came to me; ones that told me that I wasn't dying. Chiron made it clear that Achilles needed rest when he wasn't fighting because of his heel. That had to be the reason my eyelids weren't staying open.

Before I finally blacked out, I heard someone scream—and it was definitely not Annabeth.

—

Just a piece of advice if you're ever going to bathe in the River of Styx. If all of the pain you'll ever feel is focused on one spot, it is really going to hurt, even if someone just pokes it. I think that if I hadn't gotten into the creek the second Kronos disappeared, I wouldn't have made it. What bugged me was how much my head was killing me. When Kronos pricked at my skin, he had rattled my body and had done much more damage than I thought would be capable.

I had lost track of time on how long I was out, but it was like history was repeating itself, and I was back at the stables where Annabeth had fed me to keep me alive. There was a girl there with her very scent who was I saw a lot of the times that I opened my eyes.

When I wasn't conscious, my head was spinning and I was twisting in agony. It became a second spirit to me, just singing obnoxiously "_LALALAYOU'RENOTDEADYETBUTYOURECLOSEITSFUNTOSEEYOUHURTING_" and a couple variations of the Barney song. In the shape of Annabeth, too.

Five years.

I've known Annabeth for five years, and she was right. When you feel like you're at your death bed and don't know whether or not you'll ever open your eyes again, you kind of start wondering these things. What if I wasn't alive; what if it was just something Hades had me through before deciding if I should die a hero or be tortured to death?

There was no way I could leave the world without resolving everything with Annabeth. I started having feelings for Annabeth around the time I turned thirteen. After camp was over the first year, I had realized it: it was _over._ All of the struggles I've gone through just to get her to like me even as just a friend, and it was over. For a lot less than three months the whole year, I'd never see her again. When I did see her, my stomach would start having butterflies and I felt livelier. It developed into an attachment and a need to be around her, an by the time I had almost lost her when she fell off the cliff, it expanded into something more.

Having this kid would change our lives, wouldn't it? Annabeth was right. I ran away when things got rough and came back only when they really needed me. And truth? Annabeth needed me.

"Annie..." I mumbled it subconsciously, eyelids still closed. It was the only way I knew I was alive. Wait... I was alive? Awesome!

"Callie, we don't even know whether or not he's dangerous. I don't like the fact that you're hanging around him all the time!" That was a guy's voice.

"But!" It was a girl's voice this time. It sounded a little bit familiar. I could remember it somewhere, and it sounded like someone who had been talking to me the past couple of hours. "He's been out for a week now, an he's a demigod, Lucas! How else would he have gotten through Thalia's barrier?" I was out... for a week?!

"A week?! I was out for a _week_?!" I rushed when I sat up, an the second I did, I regretted it. My senses caught up with the adrenaline as I rubbed my sore head. I head the girl gasp, and she rushed over to me. My eyes were still trying to work for themselves, but her blond hair was familiar enough for me to grab her and embrace her. "Annie! Gods, Annie! Are you okay?" I started spewing my guts, telling her how much I loved her, and how much I needed her, and it kind of clicked in my head.

Annabeth wasn't this short. There was a quiet squeak that left the girl in my arms, and I let go of her. This, I stupidly realized, was the wrong girl.

"Callie!" The boy she was bickering with came up behind her and pulled her away from me before I could do anymore harm. All I could do was stare at her and how the resemblance was like... looking at a mirror.

Her hair was as gold as Annabeth's and filled out the contour of her perfectly sculpted face. If I was five or six years younger, I would be sitting in the same spot and in the same situation with practically the same girl. Everything about her face was all too familiar. Her nose was a little different, and her skin was definitely a little darker, but the biggest change was her eyes. They weren't gray like Annabeth's, they were sea green.

"...sorry." The heat rushed to my face before looking away. Looking around, I had been right about the horse stable bit. The pegasi looked at me in excitement, and I heard a lot of them saying _It's nice to see you again, boss! It's been so long!_ "Stop calling me boss; makes me feel old."

I looked at the two kids. They looked startled.

There was an underlying reason at the bottom of my gut telling me that I didn't even need to ask, but I had to. "Do you guys... know what a halfblood is?"

The boy's eyes went blank. He pulled that girl, Callie, behind him and stuffed a hand in his pocket. Sarcastically, he spat, "No. We don't. We're just wearing Camp Halfblood t-shirts because they're a franchise like Eskimo Joe's."

"Awesome fashion sense then." My mind clicked to the obvious. Eyes widening, I took my pen out of my pocket and uncapped Riptide. "Where's Kronos?!"

The girl squeaked again and hid behind the boy. He wasn't impressed. "Sherlock," the boy said with amusement, "has it even clicked in your mind where you've been for the past week?"

My cheeks were an even darker shade of red. When I looked at myself, I saw bandages. They had been wrapped around my torso and back, and when I moved again, the pain was almost enough to put me out for good. My legs were covered by a pair of pants. That was confusing, since the last thing I remembered doing was walking out of camp in my boxers.

"Chiron changed you," the girl said softly. She tore away from the boy for a second and walked up to me, gesturing to the orange t-shirt. "A week ago, we were playing Capture the Flag an I found you in the river. You've been half awake here and there."

She was blushing now; and I couldn't really blame her. I had been scrutinizing her face again—she had a lot of Annabeth's features, but a lot of someone else's that I couldn't place my finger on. If she wasn't my girlfriend—err, _ex_-girlfriend—, then there was only one other person that matched her expression. _But who?_ "What's your name?" I asked.

"Callie... Why?" Callie looked at me in concern, and then she ran her hand across my bandages. I couldn't understand why I had winced, or why I had felt so sore. "Do you remember your name? It's amazing; you didn't have a scratch on you when we found you, but that wound on your back looked pretty nasty. You're not traumatized, are you?"

"Callie," the boy said with exasperation. Really, what the heck was _his_ problem? "Don't touch him!"

"I see you're finally awake."

"Chiron!" I turned around, and my eyes landed on the centaur. He looked... older. It was hard to tell why, but he looked—_was—_wearier. I ran up to him, and his eyes melted at the sight of me. I turned to Callie and her friend, and they stared at me again in a little bit of shock. They didn't look like any of the campers that helped out with the war last year, but it was impossible for them to be new campers; I was able to see camp bead necklaces on both of them. I winced again, feeling the pain surge through me. Chiron's big hands kept me steady so I wouldn't fall. "I know the pegasi like me and everything... but you could have just put me in my cabin."

Chiron wasn't talking. His eyes were directly on me, an I was afraid he was going to ask me why I hadn't come to him earlier if I knew Kronos was in the perimeter, or worse; why I was parading around camp in my boxers. "We need to talk," he finally said. "But not here."

—

If anything I said counted, then I'd like to say that I knew Camp Halfblood like the back of my hand. As soon as I left the stables, I was lost. In fact, I was wondering if this was really Camp Halfblood or some different camp because _nothing_ looked the same. Kids were scurrying and laughing, but I recognized... none of them. When you come back here yourself, mysterious halfblood person, take note that if you mistake someone from Ares Cabin as someone from Demeter Cabin or an Aphrodite camper as a Hephaestus camper, you're in trouble. I was in trouble.

There were more buildings set up than I remembered, and the trees that we had planted no more than a week ago were alive and flourishing.

On the other hand, Chiron wasn't as confused as I was. He seemed perfectly fine, so I followed his lead with less confidence.

When we walked past the cabins, I could only tell the difference between a few of them. Peaking into each of the cabins showed different things, and when I stared into the Poseidon Cabin, there was a kid there who glared and grimaced, both of us thinking, _"Who the heck is he?"_

"He's not supposed to be there," I immediately said to Chiron. I had to rush after him when all he did was continue walking. He hadn't even bothered to look up. "Chiron?"

We finally stopped in the Mess Hall, where we were met by a man and a satyr I almost didn't recognize.

"Perrrrcy!" Eyes widening, I was tackled into a big bearhug (well, more like satyrhug) by Grover. He spun me around. And around. And around.

"Grover!" I managed to choke. "Can't... breathe...!"

"Oh, right. Sorry!" He let go of me, and I plopped to the ground with a big thud. Grover grabbed a tin can and started chewing on the tip of it, but that wasn't much of a surprise. But... Grover... _looked like a satyr._ I had to have rubbed my eyes seven times while trying to make sure I wasn't dreaming. His horns were long, proud and thick, and his fur-coated legs were of a richer er... coat. "S-sorry, Perrrrrcy. I had come back as soon as I heard that you were back, and when I heard that you were almost killed—! Oh, all the sleepless nights, I was driven nuts!"

"Guess you can blame me a little bit for that one, hmm?" The man next to Grover rolled his eyes and messed with the glass of grape juice on the table.

I blinked. "Mr. D?"

Mr. D sneered, rolling his eyes again and listlessly sighed. "Very well. By now, I guess I shouldn't _always_ expect you to recognize me now, hmm, Peter Johnson?"

"I'll recognize you when you recognize me." He sighed loudly again, and we both knew that that was never going to happen. Chiron was still scrutinizing me, but I couldn't place my finger on why. He looked older and more intense, but I hadn't even thought he aged. ...He didn't age, right?

I looked over to Grover, who was eating that tin can even more loudly. He scooted a little ways from Mr. D, but didn't to scoot any closer to me. None of them bothered to talk to me; they were silent. Mr. D was humming nonchalantly and sort of whistling, but I was never able to tell when he actually cared or just wanted to settle down for once and drink some beer.

Finally, I decided to ask, "Did you catch Kronos?"

Grover probably stopped chewing his tin can for maybe two seconds before munching it even louder than before. When I looked his way, he furiously shook his head. Mr. D looked bored as ever, moving the glass of juice with his mind. I was aggravated.

"It was a week ago, right? I heard someone come after me before I blacked out," I said precariously. Cue Grover's louder chewing and cue Mr. D's more not caring. If I wasn't the one that Kronos would mess with, then... "Where's Annabeth?" I shouted it out loud, eyes widened. "He didn't come back for her, right? Tell me!"

Chiron finally took it upon himself and sighed. I focused on him in particular. He looked like he was finally giving into temptation."Percy...I've missed that attitude of yours. I don't think I ever got the chance to tell how proud of you I ever was."

It wasn't often that I got a compliment like that from him. Taken aback, I could feel the heat rise to my cheeks as I scratched my head. "Uh... thanks. But," I looked back at him, completely serious, "before he blacked me out, Kronos had said something about polluting the time stream. He was going to go back and keep me from being born. I sent a message to Mr. D," I gestured over to him, "but I don't think he got it."

"Yes... well... Percy..." Chiron was fumbling with his words. He was only uneasy when he wasn't able to say something properly.

"Oh, for the love of Zeus," Mr. D rolled his eyes, and the glass of juice rolled to the ground. "Do you know _when_ you sent me that message, Peter Johnson? Fifteen years ago. It went through all right; we saw everything. We were in the Mess Hall when it happened, seeing you parade around in your undergarments. You managed to weaken him and stupidly went through his portal _with him._ Therefore, you're seventeen years into your future. Understood?"

My jaw dropped. He said it so casually like it hadn't even mattered that my future _was just ruined._ "Seventeen years into the future?" I looked over to Grover and Chiron in confirmation.

Chiron sighed and put a hand on my shoulder. "Callie found you while they played Capture the Flag, correct? You looked like you had just gotten out of a fight, and Rachel had a hunch that you came from the past."

Rachel... "The prophecy..." _You shall go missing, meddling in Time's hands._ I had been too blinded by my worry for Annabeth to realize what was happening to me. I had filled out the first line of the prophecy! I had gone missing. For seventeen years. I looked back up, eyebrows furrowed. "And Annabeth?"

Even Mr. D had silenced when I asked that question. Grover dropped the tin can from his hand and looked at the ground, defeated. I was panicking.

"What happened to Annabeth?" My voice raised angrily.

"She's dead, Percy!" I stopped breathing. Grover's eyes started to water, and he sobbed. "She died in battle a month ago."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. The world had suddenly gone quiet, and all I could hear and feel was my own steady heart. Quietly, I whispered, "..._what?_" I was missing. I could have protected her from whatever death she had experienced, but I was missing. I had gone missing from time!

"Once we find a way for you to get back home, Percy," Chiron tried to be as soothing as possible, "you can prevent that from happening. We're... on the brink of another war right now. She had sacrificed herself to save your son."

Yeah. That made sense; if I made my way home, I wouldn't have gone missing from time. Therefore, there wouldn't be anything that prevented me from protecting her from—"I have a son?" I eyeballed all three of them suspiciously. "Since when?"

Chiron coughed, gesturing to the kids who had bothered to come inside for a snack. They didn't notice the shirtless, bandaged teenager next to two counselors and the satyr. "Since you and Annabeth had that predicament. ...seventeen years ago."

"...oh." I was redder than a tomato. "You found out about that?"

"Swelling bellies are hard to hide, Peter Johnson." Mr. D snorted, rolling his eyes. An amused smirk appeared on his face. "Expect a visit from Poseidon and Athena when you get back. On the contrary, they _did_ put aside their differences that day."

That didn't exactly sound good. I rubbed my temples and rolled my eyes. My eyes followed some of the campers that were eating their food. The campus wasn't the only thing that looked different. When I looked over to the Poseidon Cabin, which was normally me, there were six kids I didn't recognize. Then again, I didn't recognize _anyone._ They stared at me and vice versa, but I didn't know what to say.

The door creaked open, and Callie and the boy that was with her looked around. I had an instinct to duck and hide so that they didn't spot me. Callie sighed, mumbling some words to the boy she was with before the two joined the rest to eat food. The boy had a seat at the Athena table, and I saw Callie saunter to the Poseidon table.

"She's..." I said with surprise, "my sibling?"

Chiron looked at me like I was crazy. "Percy... she's your daughter."

"WHAT?!" I stood up from my seat, looking between her and me. Words were having a hard time coming out of my mouth, and all I could do was stammer. Everyone stopped eating and looked my way. Callie personally looked up and waved at me happily with her Annabeth-ish smile.

Grover let out a nervous "Blaaah!" before scuttling over to the Poseidon Table. He blabbered words and scratched his head before he started chewing on the table. Occasionally, Callie would nod her head and then looked in my direction.

After a while, my ADHD kicked in, and my eyes began wandering about the whole cafeteria. The last time I had been in the Mess Hall, the Poseidon table and Hades table were the only ones of the Big Three that were occupied , but the Zeus table had at last twenty kids overflowing seats. Then, next to the Zeus table was the Hera table. Hera didn't sleep around the last time I checked, but there was about an equal number of Hera kids as there were Zeus kids.

One of the Hera kids looked my way, and a familiar scowl twisted his demeanor. All of the kids at the Poseidon table were younger than me by a good 3 to 4 years. They all had sea green eyes like I did, but Callie in particular was still the only one that stood out to me.

"Who's her mother?" I asked stupidly.

My teacher looked at me expectantly, eyebrow raised. "Who else?"

It was hard to nervously smile when you're embarrassed for your life. I can't exactly say talking to my battles and combat teacher about babies and health are two similar subjects. Grover finally finished talking to Callie, who was gasping again and looking over to me again. I _really_ was hoping that he hadn't told her my life's story.

He scampered back, sighing in mild relief. "Callie said that she's okay with showing you around, Percy."

"But... I already know my way around." I frowned, looking at both of my counselors. Mr. D was still aloof, and Chiron was trying not to smile. "Okay, so I almost wandered into the Strawberry Fields on my way over here, but in my defense, the ivy and grass weren't that tall the last time I was here!" A small voice in the back of my mind decided to humor me and went _Seventeen years ago, that is._

"It's not that we don't trust you, Percy," Grover was frantic again. At the rate he was going, I really had to wonder what he was afraid of. If anything, he looked so much like a satyr now that _I _should have been the nervous one. "But... you need to keep a low profile until you get home."

"Because I'm from the past?"

"Uh... well..." He started chewing the table. Mr. D shot a threatening glare, and he quickly squeaked and ran to my side.

"What he means is," Chiron was hesitant when choosing his words too. "You're very _popular_, Percy. In a couple of more years, you'll be up there next to Hercules, Odysseus... and Perseus."

I looked at my teacher, still inquiring what he had told me. I wanted to laugh and tell him he was crazy if he thought that I'd be remembered as a hero, but I think I knew in the back of my head that he might have been right. After what seemed like an eternity, I sighed and looked over to Grover. "What'd you tell her, exactly?"

Grover had been gazing at me for what seemed like an eternity. I had to snap my fingers at him to get him out of it. "S-Sorry!" He blahhed frantically and trembled again. I was confused. Grover never acted like this around me. "Well, they know that you're a demigod and know you know you're a demigod, and that you've been in a big fight."

"So... you didn't tell her I was her father?" The words sounded weird in my mouth. It was something that I was hoping that I wouldn't get used to for another fifteen years.

"Oh, Gods no!" Grover shook his head furiously, and his eyes were frantic again. Between me blinking, he had found another tin can to chew on. "Baaaad, Percy! Very baad!"

"So are you ready?"

You should have been here to see Grover leap seven feet into the air and then onto Chiron's back. It was funny, especially when Chiron whinnied. I grinned and turned around. Calie was startled, stumbling back a few steps. Seven beads rested around her neck. I felt for my own, but it had been was gone. Looking over to Chiron, he nodded comfortingly, which told me he had taken it away for the time being.

"Mr. Grover said that you didn't remember your name," Callie looked at me apologetically and tugged at my wrist. "We can at least try though, right?" As we left, a mischievous grin crossed her lips. "And if you're lucky, maybe we can blackmail Mr. D into clearing your mind for you."

"Because he's Dionysus, right?" I tried my best to sound interested and a little bit confused.

Callie's eyes widened in surprise. She nodded. "Wow, some people don't even realize that it's him until the first couple of days after camp. 'guess the satyr that was with you kept you knowledgeable before coming here, right?"

I snorted, trying my best not to smile. For a little girl, she was pretty cute. My mind raced back to the time I had first found out Grover was a satyr. "Yeah. Seeing a satyr come to your house without any pants for the first time isn't exactly what I call casual Friday."

When I turned my head, I saw some other girls giggling at my form.

"What are they laughing at?" I asked.

Callie giggled again. "You might want to put a shirt on."

My cheeks flared. "Oh."

Instead of her leading me, I had put it upon myself to lead _her._ She scampered after me like a lost puppy as I instinctively made my way to the Poseidon Cabin. There was a loose plank that I had found a couple of years back...er...maybe twenty years now. It had been a big hole that was supposed to be a well, but construction was interrupted when Poseidon, Hades, and Zeus made the pact fifty—err, sixty-five years ago.

Crap was in it when I opened it. Potato chip bags, salsa jars, pepper shakers, and some warm, rusted Pepsi cans. I looked over at Callie. She was just surprised that I actually knew what I was doing. Taking them out one by one (and really, it probably would have taken less time to go back to the stables for that t-shirt she had right next to me, but along the way, I think I wanted to prove something to my future daughter), I finally found the duffel bag labeled: **Percy Jackson.**

"Uh...," Callie stammered. "I don't think—"

"He won't mind," I grinned again, "I have a hunch that in seventeen years he'll thank me for this." I had used crumpled old homework papers from freshman year as package peanuts. Some of them read Fs, Ds, and some satisfying Bs and maybe two or three As out of the whole pile. Callie looked amused. Along with that, there were three t-shirts, ten drachma, and a wrist watch my half brother, Tyson, had given me and told me to use in a dire emergency.

I put the shirt on, and it still smelled brand new. Callie watched me carefully, and a lost look had formed in her sea green eyes. "You okay?" I asked.

"Yeah. That was just my dad's stuff." She scrambled to a neatly made bed that I realized was mine. Callie pushed the mattress aside and rummaged until she took out a picture. It was one of me, Annie, Tyson, and Grover after the chariot race from a long time ago. "You probably don't know him since you're new and all, but he was a hero."

"Was?" The word stuck out to me above everything else.

A look had fallen over her face, but she ignored me. "This is a picture of them when they were around my age. That's my mom, the girl, and the cyclops is my uncle Tyson." She grinned cheekily and pointed to Grover. "Guess who that is."

"Chiron," I mused.

"Nope! It's Uncle Grover." Callie had her laugh, and I couldn't help but smile. She looked at me, and then the image. "Come to think of it... if you were ten times less buff, paler, and cut your hair, you'd almost look like my dad."

I nodded in agreement. If I had looked at myself in the mirror and then at what I looked like back then, it was obvious that I had gone through so much more. I was only twelve when the picture was taken, so my hair was fully black. Little did I know that year, I'd be sporting a Cruella De Vil look a little after that. She studied the picture, studied me, and then fell silent.

When she did, I was thinking if there was any other evidence of me. Somewhere laying around, there was probably a photo album with Annabeth and me growing up. I kept a couple of pictures of me and Annabeth in my wallet from spring formal, but I doubt that even I was stupid enough to leave it at camp for fifteen years. That, or everyone realized I was missing and someone in the Hermes Cabin decided to dig through my stuff. I wandered over to the window, taking in the scenery once again. Everything was different.

The sun was still up outside. Some girls had left the Mess Hall and made their way toward the Hera Cabin.

Callie sneaked up behind me. "Funny, isn't it?"

"Mm?" My voice slurred. They looked my way, giggled and pointed, and went to the cabin. They reminded me of the preppy kids at my school.

"A while back, the Big Three—Hades, Zeus, and my grandpa, Poseidon, had made a pact not to have any more kids because of this prophecy about one of their kids when they turned sixteen," she explained. I already knew the story better than she did. Half of me was listening, the other half was looking at all of the cabins. When in the Mess Hall, I noticed that there were only a couple of kids in the Hades Cabin. Poseidon Cabin had a little more, Zeus Cabin had the most. "The prophecy sort of worked in two ways. But after it all blew over, Daddy had conquered the prophecy. In return for his success, the Gods offered him one gift.

"The cabins used to be in one big 'U' shape, honoring the twelve Olympians. Well, if you've read your Greek mythology, the big guy slept around. _A lot._" Callie snorted and rolled her eyes. "And, it's kind of awkward if he's in all of these affairs and has a wife to get back to, don't you think?"

I thought about how last year how I had gone to visit my father's kingdom for the first time. I met his wife, Amphitrite, and she hadn't taken a liking to me. Maybe that was how Hera had felt every single time Zeus had one of his affairs. Even if she was putting Annabeth and me into turmoil right now, I couldn't help but feel a little bad for her.

"So in those tales, Grandma Athena had popped out of Zeus's head. Jealous, Hera tried having a kid by herself too and ended up with Hephaestus," Callie continued. And because of that, she threw him off Mount Olympus and said Zeus did it. Annabeth was probably the one who taught her about that. Was that a sign that she and I were going to get back together when I got home? "She's kind of mad at Daddy now for breaking the pact since that means that her husband is going around and, um, having affairs. This is kind of her way of getting revenge. She loves them though. They're the biggest cabin every year; I'm surprised not all of them came this year."

My eyes landed on her. The smile on her face was serene and absolutely happy. It was too much like Annabeth. "Oh." I looked away.

"How long are you staying?" She tugged at my arm like a little kid with a big brother. "You probably didn't get a good impression about the camp if stuff's been happening to you, but..."

"Probably not long." The prophecy came to mind again. _You shall go missing, meddling in Time's hands._ Unless a seventeen-year-old Annabeth was going to pop out of nowhere and hit me over the head for doing something stupid, I was pretty sure the first line had just come true. The second said: _Two children of blood who meet your demands._ Of blood...

"Oh. That's a shame." Her voice was low and solemn. She had said the last part in a murmur, but I heard her clearly: "I... was thinking that you were him."

_Him_? She didn't mean her father, did she? I turned to her, eyes connecting. "Look... Callie—"

_CRAAAAAAASSH! _

There was a rumble. Callie squeaked and fell into my arms. In the back of my head, it was already set in my head that it was a 4 on the Richter Scale. Finally, it subsided, and she let out a sigh of relief. She tried to leave my arms. I wouldn't let her.

"Not yet," I said firmly. "Wait for the aftershock."

It didn't take long; the aftershock was maybe about a three, and subsided quickly. We heard screeches outside and I got up, uncapping Riptide.

"Wait!" Callie's voice cried. I looked at her expectantly. She hadn't looked scared, but worried. "I'm not supposed to—!"

I didn't get to hear the rest of her words. In all of the commotion and panic, someone decided to be Captain Obvious and say, _"We're under attack!" _

_—_


	4. I Get To Meet the Honorable Oracle

**Chapter 4: **I Get To Meet the Honorable Oracle

WhenI left the Poseidon Cabin and looked at what was attacking us, I was utterly confused. Kronos wasn't the one that was attacking no matter how much I expected it. It was Hydra.

Argus and the barrier around the camp should have kept her from entering. The barrier remained in tact, and there was no fire... yet. Kids spread out from everywhere, half in armor and half simply in their own clothes. The boy that Callie was with earlier was one of them, leading who I thought was the Athena Cabin.

I clutched Riptide tighter and turned to Callie. Her eyebrows were furrowed, and she was biting her lip, like she was thinking of something completely different. "Aren't you going to help them?" I called to her over the roar. We jumped back into the cabin and shut the door tightly as one of Hydra's heads flung in our direction.

"I..." She mumbled. The wistful look was in her eyes, and she didn't tear away from her friend. He was giving directions over the roar to everyone in the Cabin, and they disperse once he was done talking. Other campers were struggling over the monster. Hydra flicked them away one by one, and a kid in particular had been shoved aside and crashed into the side of the Hermes Cabin, elbow first.

"Come on!" I yanked her arm and barricaded through the crowd of kids. The fallen member winced, eyes dead on the wound. He was the same age Callie was with twice the scowling.

"What do you want, Jackson?" He spat. I blinked, wondering how he knew my name.

"Well..." Oh yeah. Callie was my daughter.

"Just trying to help," I cut in. I hadn't gotten a good look at his face, but I took a hold of his arm. He winced and screeched when I touched it, but for a very good reason. Bone could be seen and a gash was at his upper shoulder. Sighing, I said goodbye to my good shirt, ripping the end of it and clotting the blood with cloth. From the corner of my eye, Callie was just standing there, frown on her face as she watched the others fight. Chiron, forest creatures, and Mr. D were nowhere to be seen—we were on our own. Kronos must have found her again and brought her to distract us—me in particular—from finding him. This didn't make sense though—Thalia's tree was alive and thriving! "Isn't Argus supposed to be keeping guard for the monster?"

The boy looked at me like I was crazy. "What are you talking about?" He yowled when I applied pressure to the wound and was close to strangling me. "This is a drill!"

"A what?"

The question was left unanswered when someone's familiar voice suddenly went, "_Callie_!" I flung around the second I heard her high screech. She was caught in one of Hydra's mouths with her fangs buried deep into Callie's stomach.

"Here! Keep it on there and get an Apollo kid to look at you!" I tossed the rag in his face and gripped my hand around Riptide again. Before anyone else could even react, I had leaped into the air and was on top of the Hydra's back. She freaked out, running wild and screeching at the top of her lungs as four of her heads tried to rip me limb from limb. "Wh-Whoa, evil freaky monster!" I stumbled again and managed to get on the head of Callie's captor with pure luck.

Riptide ripped into Hydra's neck, which was when she broke loose. If she was wild before, then she was _insane_ now. I had just barely enough time to scale her mane and grab Callie before leaping off the head. Poison splurged about and scattered across the ground. I covered Callie from the blow when we took the long dive for the ground. When we finally landed, she was on top of me, and my back was buried into the ground.

"You okay?" I asked her firmly.

Callie's eyes widened in shock, but she numbly nodded her head. "Y-Yeah... but she got a good bite of your arm!"

"She did?" I looked at my arm and surly enough, Hydra had ripped the sleeve off my shirt, but left no scar. I gave her a toothy grin as we picked ourselves up. "That hurt about as much as an ant bite. Less, really."

"Callie!" We turned our heads. The boy from the Pegasi Stable ran up to us with a permanent scowl and smoke coming out of his ears. "How many times have I told you to stay away from the battlefield?! You could get hurt!"

"But I can fight!" Callie's voice was fierce. I couldn't help but sigh in relief now that she was feeling better. "If you just gave me my sword, I could—"

"You're _forbidden_ to." Callie's friend sneered, but more than half of it was aimed at me. I, on the other hand, was staring at the Hydra. Two heads were still left on her, and one of them had to be the immortal neck. There was no plan being executed; everyone was charging at her with their own moves. I held Riptide tighter in my grip.

I cut into their bickering, "Um, Callie and Callie's friend? Not the best time to be having a lovey-dovey moment."

Campers alike were charging at the monster. Tactics and battle strategies were amazing. Teamwork; not so much. Apollo Cabin, for example, was known for long ranged attacks, and campers who were trying to cut the heads off were on thin ice each time the arrow went between them. At they rate they were going, half of the camp was going to be gone before they could prove themselves as warriors. The heads were already growing back from the last attack. I charged at her, sword in hand and slid under her to her belly. That'd give me some time to think of a plan in between blocking off big heads and being a distraction.

Hercules had defeated Hydra by putting her immortal head under a heavy rock and then stabbing her with her own poison. Had the other heads been there before? Got it.

Even though it wasn't going to do much damage, I pierced Riptide into Hydra's underbelly with as much force as I could conjure. She roared in agony while I made my escape by rolling away. In less than thirty seconds, Riptide would fall and appear again right in my pocket. That was enough time from executing plan A to planning execution of plan B. It's a good thing to have your girlfriend—err, _ex_-girlfriend—be a master strategist. "Hephaestus Cabin, Apollo Cabin! Meet me over here!"

A bunch of the campers stared at me like I was crazy, but when I glared at them and called them in a stricter tone, they didn't think twice. Two kids in particular from each group ran up to me.

"Fire covered arrows." I ordered simply. Once again, they looked at me like I belonged in an asylum. I turned my head and called for the Hermes Cabin. "You guys know how to tease a monster, don't you?" They looked at me with wile grins, loving the idea with each ticking second. "Toilet paper her, kick her, tease her. Anything it takes to tear her attention away from destroying camp!"

When I looked back at the Apollo and Hephaestus campers, they looked at me with mischievous eyes. They got the plan. And liking it, from the looks of it.

Riptide appeared in my pocket ten seconds earlier than I had estimated. Glimpsing at the campers, I made it positive that they knew what to do. They spread out quickly, and I took it upon myself to charge at the Hydra again. Two heads were once again cut off, and two equally flaming arrows had made it to the core of Hydra's neck bones. They burnt and simmered, but the flames were hot enough to evaporate any fluids that'd generate another ugly nuisance.

I managed to charge forward and cut off another head, and a flaming arrow met the stump of Hydra's third neck. Don't doubt Apollo when he says that he's got a killer aim. End of story.

The only downside to my plan was that everyone else was getting in the way. Don't get me wrong; Chiron doesn't kid when he's training us campers, but I had to shove a camper out of the way when one of the Hermes kid threw a rock into one of Hydra's mouths.

"Demeter campers!" I called out to no one in particular. Hydra was spiraling out of control again. "Try digging her feet into the ground; Zeus campers! Zap her enough so that she's temporarily paralyzed! Get your biggest camper prepared! Morpheus Cabin! Can you put some of her asleep?!"

It was amazing. Even though I knew only one person out of the whole entire camp, they had come together quickly and followed my orders without a complaint. Zeus campers did the zapping, Demeter campers rooted her to the ground, and two of the six heads left were drowsy.

"Everyone else, follow my lead!" I charged at Hydra again with a high up battle cry, Riptide strong in the air.

One of the other campers, who I suspected was from the Iris Cabin, managed to blind one of the heads. I cut it off right afterwards, and turned to give another order when: _"AH!"_

Callie's friend had been in the way when an Apollo member pierced straight into his arm. "Lucas!" cried some of the campers. A thing about Hephaestus fire: they can manipulate the temperature so it's hotter than the sun, or have it as warm as hot cocoa. Hydra was up and about again, and one of her other heads lunged for him. I tackled him to the ground above everything else and we tumbled to a different side.

He was seething as the burns came in tact with his skin. The arrow had to be three inches deep into bare flesh; already splattered and squishing with blood.

"You okay?" I asked slowly. He tensed as I touched the arrow.

"I've been better."

I stared at the arrow dumbly, cursing to myself for not being able to see it, but it was mostly his fault for underestimating the accuracy and power of Apollo's kids. It was still burning and flaming before I finally took it out with my hand. Even then, I couldn't feel the pain. The water of River Styx had done a good job when keeping me safe. He grunted in pain as I struggled with it. When it was finally out, bleeding was worse and gushing like a waterfall.

"Hey, you!" I called out to one of the archers. She looked my way immediately and I gestured for her to come over. "Can you heal this wound?" Stunned, she nodded.

I wielded Riptide again and looked again and looked at the second head. One more head, and we would be able to put Hydra out of our misery. Sparks of blue covered Hydra again, and she screeched into the air. I, along with someone else from the Hades cabin, cut the second head off in sync. The last arrow was finally in set and burning at the stump. The big camper I asked for was a guy who looked exactly like Hephaestus and was already ready when I looked his way. He lunged at Hydra's remaining head, and she wailed in the air as the pain rushed to her. Fortunately, the guy was able to keep her down.

Slowly, I scanned the area for just one more thing: a bloodied head of the Hydra. Running over, I dipped the tip of Riptide into the puddle of blood and ran back to the struggling camper. "And her own poison," I said slowly, "is the end of her." I jabbed the sword into her one last time, and she let out another fierce cry before she was down for good. She faded away, and everything from this battle had gone with her.

Campers were speechless as I took my sword out, all staring in awe. I yielded Riptide, and it reverted back to its pen form. Finally, they burst into cheers and applause, murmurs surfacing above everything; mostly questions like _"Who is he?"_ and _"Isn't he the kid from the creek?"_.

I helped out the large camper and and highfived him. "Nice job, uh..."

"J.T.," he said carefully. "You're amazing at these drills, dude."

The kid earlier had mentioned something about drills too. I blinked, looking at everyone around me. "What do you mean by drills?"

"What do you mean, 'What do you mean'?" Remember how everyone was staring at me like I was nuts? They were doing it again. J.T. stood up and brushed the dirt off his pants. "We have these drills once a week so that we'll know what we're up against. I don't think we've ever worked together so easily like that before."

"...Oh." That explained why the Hydra had faded instead of dissolved like how normal mythological beasts did. I made my way to Callie, who was bandaging the wound on her friend's arm.

"I'm fine," he mumbled. His eyes were on the ground and glaring at nothing in particular. "Callie, Corona already healed the wound. I'm gonna be fine."

"I could have had your back if you let me." Callie scowled, eyes narrowing at him. "Lucas, you can be so hardheaded sometimes!"

"What's done is done. There's no changing the past." Boy, did that sound ironic coming out of my mouth. I scanned the area for that Corona girl Callie and Lucas were talking about. The second I did, I flashed a knowing grin and gave her a thumbs up. In return, she along with a lot of other girls turned red and waved at me. I blinked. Wonder what that was about. Glancing over to Lucas, I examined the wound myself. "He's right, Callie. Corona did a good job at healing him."

Lucas stiffened with the contact of my hand. "I don't believe we've met properly," he said under gritted teeth. "I'm Lucas."

"I'm Pe—" I hesitated, looking between both Callie and Lucas.

His glare was tenser.

"Ow," I faked an injury and clutched the side of my head. "I think I got a concussion or something when fake Hydra hit me. I'm pretty sure it starts with a 'P' though. Maybe a Bob, or a Patty." Callie offered me a strange look, but a big smile formed over her face.

"Oh my Gods! That was _amazing!_ Here, I thought that you were just a rookie camper, but you knew how _everything_ and _everyone_ worked! You knew which campers would be able to manipulate element! But..." Her demeanor fell when she gestured to the pocket where I held Riptide. "The tip of your sword... it's chipped."

"Hmm?" I felt Riptide in its pen form. Kronos had found a weak point in its binding. I shrugged nonchalantly and shook my head. "It's fine. I'll see if I can get someone to fix it."

"How did you pull the flaming arrow out of Lucas's arm without burning yourself? There isn't even a scratch!" Callie gestured to my hand.

I moved it to prove her point, and thought about all of the possible reasons I could think of. "Uh...the...Internet?"

"That was reckless of you," Lucas interrupted our conversation. He stood up and met me perfectly at my height. "The strategy you used was poor, and it was pure luck that you were able to get everyone to cooperate like that."

He seemed to be forgetting who saved his sorry, flaming butt. "Lucas, you seem to be forgetting who saved your sorry, flaming butt." Callie said it; not me. I looked over to her, somewhat amused that we both came up with the same conclusion. She glared at him angrily and touched my hand. "He's a great hero! If we were to do that with the real Hydra, we'd win; _no sweat_!"

"It would have been less risky if someone from the Athena Cabin had come up with the strategy," he huffed. Lucas's face scrunched up again and his eyes narrowed at me. They were sea green, just like Callie's.

"Well if it helps any, I dated someone from the Athena Cabin and knew her for five years," I mumbled, "before she dumped me."

Lucas tensed once again, and he stood up from the dirt. I was the only one who caught him wincing when he moved his arm a little. "Whatever.."

He left with the crowd of dispersing kids. "What the hell is your boyfriend's problem?" I looked over to Callie, who was mortified. "He's not jealous that you've been the one feeding me and such, is he?"

Callie paled to a sickening white. "Dude, that is the grossest thing you could ever say to me."

"What?" I smirked, having fun with teasing her. "Don't you have a little crush on him?"

"Of course not!" She shrieked, clutching her stomach. She made a gagging noise and rolled her eyes. "He's my _brother_!"

—

"So do you remember your name yet, you poor thing?"

"You look a little bit like a Grayson! Does that ring a bell?"

"Hey! You need to come by the Apollo Cabin for a healing session!"

Exactly two days had passed while I was in the new future. It was driving me crazy; half the girls at the camp wouldn't leave me alone; always asking the creepiest questions for who-knows-why, and I had traded battle tactics with probably seven other people now. The girls followed me just about everywhere I went; it was kind of hot and kind of creepy.

"You said it started with a 'P', right?" A girl from the Aphrodite Cabin asked me. Bella Aulora; that's what her name was She was really pretty, but kind of the touchy-feely type. "You look a little bit like a Peyton, or a Pierce. Or maybe... a Peter?"

I stopped and snorted, twirling around again. Bella Aulora's lips stretched into a happy grin.

"It's Peter, isn't it? It's _so_ Peter! It was a matter of time that I'd figure it out, right? It's such a good sign from Mom!" Yeah, it was a good sign all right. And my son and daughter from Annabeth were totally telling me that I was never getting back together with her. Bella rattled a hand around the sleeve of my T-shirt. "Maybe you and I should..."

"It's not Peter," I said flatly. I scratched my head. "Um, maybe it doesn't start with a P. Maybe a 'T' or something, you know? I like the name Theo."

"But you're too hot to be named something stupid like _Theo_!" shrieked the girl from the Hera Cabin. Her name was Abigail Smith. "What about something like... like... Porter?"

And finally, the third girl, from Nemesis Cabin, who had been following me around too shook her head. "Girls! I'm pretty sure his name may have something to do with who his mother or father is!"

There was no way I could hear that without grinning in amusement. They all nodded in agreement and contemplated on what name I could possibly have for yet another minute. They were farther from their goal than they thought they were. From the corner of my eye, I saw the fourth girl that went unnoticed: Callie. When I first stepped out the Hermes Cabin this morning, I went straight to the Poseidon Cabin to get her. That was when the other three girls decided to follow me around.

While I was here, I guess I had sort of developed an attachment to my daughter (that was still so, so awkward to say). She said that she was eleven and had never gone on a quest before, but made it very vague on why. That made Lucas, my son (this was a little _more_ awkward) and the boy that Annabeth and I were expecting. He had to be sixteen, if I was being reasonable. She was at elast five years younger than him, and it was one of the reasons why I kept her around the way I did. If she was born _five years later_, then that at least meant that I had a good five more years with Annabeth before something bad happened. Basically, if I had gone to the future and Callie was still here, then it was very clear that I had made it back.

We shared a secret gesture we had come up with yesterday, and quickly we ran while the others were still bickering.

"A girl from the love goddess, a girl from the marriage goddess, and a girl from the revenge goddess," I speculated. No matter how many ways you phrased it, all of it was just a bad combo. Callie giggled behind me as we finally lost them. It would be a good three minutes before they realized that she and I left. Sarcastically, I quipped, "I certainly have it going for me, now don't I?"

"Well, Abby was head-over-heels in love with Cody Sparks from the Zeus Cabin before you came," Callie said as we ducked behind the Big House. She stared at me, eyes gleaming. "Maybe you're a kid of Eros's? He's looking pretty jealous."

"Maybe," I decided to humor her. I shrugged, eyes looking around clearly to see if anyone had followed us. So far, everything _seemed_ quiet. "I doubt that anyone will claim me."

"Of course they will! You're an awesome warrior already! You took out Chase Rodriguez without breaking a sweat, and he's one of the toughest kids in the Ares Cabin!" Chase Rodriguez had the bad arm from when he slammed into the cabins. In his defense, it probably still hurt. Plus, I was a foot and a half taller than him. "I still don't get it though: how'd you know his every move?"

"Let's just say I've seen them before." I hid the smile that came over my face. Any idiot from my time would have been able to spot Clarisse's features on that boy and know immediately who's kid he was. I'd have asked him myself, but I doubt anyone would feel normal if some guy from the past came up to him and asked, "Hey, what's your mother's full maiden name?"

From the looks of it, Clarisse had taught the kid everything she knew about fighting. In his arsenal had been a spear exactly like his mother's. "Hey, Callie. Could I ask you a question?"

"Sure, anything!"

What Lucas had told her about being forbidden to go on the battlefield played over and over in my head. Yesterday after I was hanging out with her, he was giving her a lecture about how I was reckless and unpredictable and blah blah blabitty blah. Dating my own daughter would just be gross. "Why is Lucas always on your back about things?"

"...Oh." Her answer was meek and quiet. I glanced over and saw her nervous expression. "Um, pass?"

Obviously, she wasn't comfortable with me asking. I nodded to respect her wishes and then let myself out in a clear, open area. "Keep an eye out; I need to talk to the Oracle."

Callie's eyes widened to the size of saucers. "Are you crazy?! She's not just going to let _anyone_ talk to her, you know!"

"I need an offering, right?" Callie nodded. I grinned and shrugged. "Trust me, she'll let it slide this time."

Compared to the old, murky look that was around the last time I was here, the place was absolutely decked out. When I went to the attic of the Big House, it was much cleaner, and some of the old artifacts that I remembered seeing before were hanging up on the walls. Posters saying "_Save the forest!_" and _"Be friendly to your planet!"_ all hung above with walls painted a dainty burgundy that only I knew only this girl in particular would like.

"Great Oracle?" I mused. My eyes scanned the room again before someone suddenly appeared in front of me. When I saw her, I definitely knew it was Rachel, but Rachel had never looked so... un-Rachel-ish. Her hair was much longer, spawning to her mid-back. I was still taller than her, even after almost twenty years into the future, but she definitely looked older and filled out a lot more than Rachel seventeen years ago did.

"Percy...?" She stared at me, like she was unable to identify who I really was. I nodded. "Oh my Gods! _Percy!_"

"Ah... stop... Rachel...choking...me...choking...still choking... Alright, there we go." I sighed in relief when she finally let go of me and collapsed onto her mattress. My scrutiny of her continued. "Wow. You are so... _old_, Rachel." Needless to say, she slapped me upside the head. I started laughing, but she didn't. When I looked at her to ask why, her eyes had grown misty and her eyebrows were furrowed. "What?"

"I... it's been so long, Percy." She hesitantly brought hand out to touch my cheek.

"Don't I come to visit you in the future?" I arched an eyebrow.

Rachel smiled a weary smile, and even if I was joking before, it was clear that she had aged. "So long, Percy. So, so long. In this time, you went missing six years ago."

My eyes widened. "How?"

She pursed her lips and closed her eyes. "It's... hard to explain, Percy. Everything you did was for a good reason, but I'm not allowed to disclose that information." Her eyes were misty again. I took it upon myself to grab a tissue from her nightstand and hand it to her.

Lucas and Callie grew up six years without a father, and last month, they lost a mother. I couldn't stop staring at Rachel as she blew her nose.

"What about Annabeth?" I asked. "Chiron wouldn't tell me what happened to her, but I know she was..." I didn't want to say it. The word _killed_ just didn't belong in the same sentence with _Annabeth_. That made her sob harder. I could feel myself grow impatient. "Rachel, I need to know these things. If I know these things and go back to my time, I can change the outcome of the future. Kronos won't be raiding around, and everyone comes out safely."

Rachel continued hiccuping before reducing to sniffles. She let out a big ugly booger in the tissue I provided her with and finally calmed down. "The prophecy."

"The prophecy?" I repeated.

"I read that prophecy for a reason all those years ago, Percy." Her eyes narrowed at me. "We didn't know what it meant then, but you were there when I read it to you. Then, seventeen years later, you pop your head here. Both of them, Percy. I have a feeling... I _know_ what you'll do and need to do."

I thought about the times she had prophesied something. There where two instances—the prophecy that she told me right before I left, and the _Great _Prophecy. Looking between the two, my eyes widened. "You mean—?"

She neither nodded nor shook her head. "As the Oracle, disclosing more information than allowed is forbidden. Apollo will have my head and make me sing karaoke with him again if I do. But it's a maybe—you know how prophecies sometimes go unplanned. The first line of one of them has already come true—you have to see to it that the first line of the other does as well."

"You're lying," I blurted. My mind was spinning with all of the other conclusions that seemed possible. But she was right—prophecies took advantage of a lot of loopholes and had a way of being vague in the most obvious situation possible. "I just defeated Kronos last summer, Rachel! I barely stood a chance against him when we met this time—there's no way that this could be happening all over again!"

But the straight look on her face wasn't shaken. She shook her head, eyes tightly closed before she put a hand over mine.

"It's because the time line is becoming polluted, isn't it?" I curled my fingers into her bedsheets. "Kronos is popping everywhere, so he's triggering events that aren't supposed to happen for hundreds and thousands of years. When I'm _dead_ is when they're supposed to happen, Rachel!"

Rachel hadn't nodded and she hadn't shaken her head, but the look in her eyes told me that I was right about _some_ of the things coming out of my mouth. "You have a good instinct to believe those things, Percy. I will admit that even as the Oracel, some of the words I speak have become blurs and... mush together."

"So Kronos is messing with them! See?" I didn't want to believe that it was true, but when Rachel gave me that sour look, we both _knew _that I was in denial. My fake confidence faded from me.

"Math was never your best subject, so I'll add the theory for you, Percy," Rachel said softly. She rubbed my back soothingly like Mom used to do when I had nightmares as a little kid. "Kronos for one is never dead. So long as he lives in those who remember him, he lives on. He's the God of Time, so he could be anywhere he wanted to be at this second. In fact, he might even know what I'm saying to you at this very moment. Whether or not you truly are of this prophecy, Percy, it's your job to see if it comes through. You're the hero of the last one. You have to."

I hated it when girls were right. _Protect what time has truly preserved_ was the very last line of the prophecy she had given me before the trip here.I bit the inside of my mouth and sighed in defeat. It wasn't about me—it was never about me. The fate of the Olympians was what really mattered. _Seven halfbloods will answer the call. To storm or fire, the world must fall. An oath to keep with a final breath, and foes bear arms to the Doors of Death. _"How will I find the six other halfbloods?"

"Don't worry about that." She pulled me into a hug like it would be my last from her. "It'll come to you. _Eventually._"

—

"So how did it go?"

"Huh?" I snapped out of my thoughts and faced Callie. Her sea green eyes looked at me inquisitively, but it was hard to form words. "She uh, let me stay for a little bit," I mumbled. "I think she found me a little cute."

"That's not creepy at all," she muttered. We looked at each other, sending silent messages before bursting into a fit of laughter. My troubles washed away and became forgotten, and I found myself laughing harder and a bit longer than she was. When I opened my eyes, she was staring at me, lips curled into a wide smile. "Do you know what a hellhound is?"

"Little barking chihuahuas that don't know how to shut up?" It was cute watching her burst into another fit of giggles.

"Okay, so you don't," Callie confirmed on her own. She yanked at my arm and gestured to the forest. "Would you like to meet the world's friendliest and largest dog on Long Island?"

I was hesitant at first. Ms. O'Leary was likely to recognize me from my scent if I were to come with her. Callie apparently mistook this as fear because she laughed and pulled me off to the forest before I had a chance to refuse.

"Don't even _tell me_ that you're afraid of dogs!" A mischievous glow overwhelmed her eyes. She smirked. "And if you are, you can hide behind me and I'll protect you."

It was enough to make me smile just for a little bit. As she waddled ahead of me, I made note of the features of her face again. It was stalker-ish of me, but I began doing it without realizing it. "Callie," I said absentmindedly, "do you actually know how to wield a sword?"

Callie halted in her spot. Slowly, she turned around and hesitantly eyed me. "Of course I know how. Daddy actually taught me when I was little, and Chiron doesn't let anyone who steps foot in this campus step foot out without knowing how to battle."

"Then how come your brother made a big deal about it when we battled the fake Hydra?" I slowly managed to catch up to her. She took the time to jump onto a log in the middle of nowhere and balance herself on it.

"He's always been like that; ever since Daddy went missing when we were little," she whispered quietly. "Last month... my mother died. I wasn't there when it happened, but Lucas was. He's grown bitter and irritated now, and worries more on my safety than anything."

"So he does have a human side," I concluded for her. A small smile tugged on her lips, but she floated back into her thoguhts. I felt awful. If I had just been there, I could have prevented this—_all of this._

"It'll only go on for a couple more years. He has to stop eventually."

"You figure?"

"I _know_." She jumped off of the log and gazed about before smiling in satisfaction. "When I officially turn thirteen, he isn't allowed to make the choices for me—sworn by the River Styx. Whether he likes it or not, he's promised that I can go on missions and stuff."

I frowned. "Prophecies don't wait for kids to turn thirteen, Callie. They kind of just happen when they happen."

"Depends on what prophecy you're talking about." Her eyes twinkled again. She looked my way with a silly smile and shrugged. Callie had a point; the prophecy I was involved in had me anticipating what was going to happen for a full four years and three hundred, sixty-four days before it finally came true. Finally, she stopped. "Okay, we're here."

"We're where?" I asked curiously.

She sucked in a deep breath and cupped her mouth. "MS. O'LEARYYYY!" At first, everything was silent. Her voice echoed off the trees, and soon three dogs the twice the size of Labrador retrievers scurried out of the bushes, tackled me to the ground and filled my face with dog slobber.

"WHOA!" I managed to choke. The gross part was there was some tongue-to-tongue involved in all of that.

"Oh good," I barely heard Callie say, "she brought the puppies with her."

_Puppies?_ "Uh, nice dogs." I couldn't help but laugh and pet every single one of them by their muzzles. There was a big, roaring earthquake that I had gotten used to all of last summer. A big _WOOOF _that could make all of New York tremble was heard, and the trampling was phenomenal. Ms. O'Leary came running and barking happier than any of the other dogs. Puppies aside, she came up to me, licking all of me herself and caused me to fall to the ground all over again. "Hey—uh—girl. It's nice to see you. For the very first time....ever!"

Ms. O'Leary barked again and leaped six feet into the air with excitement. Her puppies did the same to a smaller degree.

"Okay, I see where you wanna go with this," I grinned. I looked around the forest to find the biggest branch around. Luckily enough, there was one a few yards away. As soon as I found it, Ms. O'Leary and her puppies jumped five feet into the air with excitement. The second it left my hand and into the comb of trees, they were off before I could say anything.

"That's... amazing," said Callie. I glanced her way and saw the mix of confusion over her face. "I don't think I've ever seen Ms. O'Leary take a liking to anyone like that so quickly. You're so lucky!"

"Uh, really? I have a dog just like her back at home." I shrugged and tried not to make it look like a big deal. If I had said anything else, then I would have certainly blown my cover. Ms. O'Leary was making it harder for me than it should have been.

"What'd you say your name was again?"

"Billy Joe Armstrong," I snickered. Of course, I was only kidding. When I looked over to Callie, she was staring at me. I blinked, scratching my head. "I was... kidding, Callie."

"Oh." Unfortunately, a wave of disappointment washed over her face. She stared at the ground sadly, and I couldn't help but feel bad for not being able to tell her what my true name was.

"Once I remember," I suddenly said while putting a hand on her shoulder, "you'll be the first one to know. You've been too good to me for me not to tell you what my name really is."

A red blush splattered her skin. Callie's lips stretched into an excited smile and she furiously nodded her head. "O-Okay!"

"You remind me a lot of my girlfriend back home," I then said. There were fragments of Annabeth's personality embedded here and there when it came to Callie, but other than that, she was her own person. She was a little reckless, somewhat daring, _loud_, and was excited easily. The only time she would ever back down was when it came to Lucas, where she would bite her own tongue and stubbornly refuse to talk. A crestfallen flicker fell into her eyes. I looked at her, confused. "What?"

"Nothing," Callie quickly replied. She shrugged and nervously laughed before playing with a random loop of hair. "Go on. I remind you of your girlfriend?"

"We need some space between us right now, so we're definitely not seeing eye-to-eye," I muttered. When I looked back at her, she was staring intently with her sea green eyes wide and intrigued. I couldn't help but smile. I could have sat there next to her for the rest of the day and watch her mess around just to see which qualities she had gotten from me, from Annabeth, and what she developed on her own. The future was gonna be so totally awesome. Other than the me going missing and Annabeth dying part. "I have a hunch that everything will be different when I get home though."

"Too bad for all the girls at camp then, huh?"

"What do you mean by that?" I looked at her in confusion. Callie's eyes narrowed and she arched an eyebrow with an _Are-you-serious?_ look.

"Have you _not_ been paying attention to all of the girls that have been following you around?" I shook my head. They were kind of a nuisance, but I tried to tolerate it. Chiron said to keep a low profile, and telling them to stay away seemed unnecessary. Plus, have I mentioned how hot they were? "Wow. For a guy who can practically lead an army, you're really, really dense."

"Trust me, I get that a lot." My eyes narrowed. I shrugged and turned around just as Ms. O'Leary and her puppies came running for me. "Who's the father, anyways?"

"Guess."

"A little, flaming chihuahua."

"Cerberus."

I looked at her form the corner of my eye to see if she was telling the truth. A wide grin spread across my face as I scratched one of the puppies behind its ear. It was excited as it stomped its foot into the ground. They had Ms. O'Leary's eyes, but Callie was right when she said that Cerberus was their father. Playfully, I joked, "What, only one head guys?" They barked again happily and nudged the stick to me. Callie came up behind me and pointed to the pup closest to its mother.

"That one's Asphodel. You can tell it's him because he has a big tan spot on his ear. The one you're petting is Elysium. He always slobbers more than the rest. Diddles is the smallest out of all of them."

"Diddles?" I arched an eyebrow and smiled.

A blush flared her cheeks and she shrugged. "We wanted to name her after her previous owner, Daedalus, but when I suggested the name, I couldn't pronounce it properly, so we settled on Diddles."

"She's my favorite then," I teased. I called her over (which took some time; I think they were really really young puppies).

"Could I ask you something, Billy Joe Armstrong?" You'd be amazed how serious she was when she said my 'name.'

"Mm?" I tossed the stick again and yelled out a high, "FETCH!" before looking back to her. Callie was squinting, and I could have sworn her eye color had changed to a solid, slate gray. I was going to have to ask her later how she was able to do that.

"How is it that you remember your girlfriend, your dog, and know the abilities of all of the cabins at this camp, but," her voice raised suspiciously, "you can't even remember your name?"

"A really, really bad concussion." I hadn't bothered to exchange looks at her when saying that. Instead, I started to walk back to the camp. I could have just stayed and waited for the pups and Ms. O'Leary to come back, but understand that a hellhound has seven times the energy of a normal dog, and we just go started. It's a good workout playing fetch for the next forty years until they tire out, if you're willing to throw that hard.

Classes were supposed to be in session, but after Chiron had heard about how I became a lieutenant and got everyone to cooperate with the fake Hydra, he forbid me to go to any of the classes. Needless to say, I was grounded until further notice. What Rachel advised me came to mind. "Callie," I turned to her, "when are the battles held? Or Capture the Flag? What tournaments are coming up?" Stupidly, I asked since I was on a roll, "What month is it?"

"Uh," Callie's eyes widened. She wasn't expecting me to suddenly blab like that. "Capture the Flag is every Friday, and the arena is open any time but Saturday mornings, because that's when Cabin Ten and Seven fight to decide whether or not we watch chick flicks or an actually good movie later that night. We do have a tournament coming up two weeks from now for a compare and contrast tournament towards the end of the summer. And," she added quickly, "It's June 3rd."

"Ah." I nodded my head gratefully. "So everything's pretty much the same."

"What do you mean?" I looked over to her. "Isn't this your first year here?"

"Uh... yeah." I scratched my head and started walking faster to nowhere in particular. "Just a little curious and all; to see if it's the same as any other of the camps."

"This is the only camp that allows demigods to pass." Callie looked at me in suspicion.

"It's nothing to think about now... I think my amnesia is acting up again," I lied. I rubbed my head and looked back at her. Just between you and me, did she look like she was buying it? Didn't think so.

I continued walking with her behind me, and somewhere in between getting from the forest to Thalia's tree, I had apparently crossed through the other creak without realizing it because when I turned around, Callie was on the other side giving me a blank stare.

"What?" I asked.

She rubbed her eyes, narrowing them before pointing to my pants. "You're not wet."

Oops. I stared at my feet to see if there was a puddle that formed between my feet, but it unfortunately didn't. When I looked back up, Callie was in front of me, and her eyes had gone from gray to green again. She wasn't wet either. I blinked. "How'd you do that?"

"Kids with Poseidon's blood running through them don't get wet unless they want to," she explained. That hadn't been what I asked though. Callie ignored my question entirely and suddenly grinned. "It's a sign. It's a totally sign. Unless any other kid can do it, you're definitely the kid of Poseidon!"

That was the understatement of the century. "Maybe," I said awkwardly. I scratched my head. "I don't think I can do much with a fork thingy though."

"Trident," Callie irritably corrected. I hid the grin that formed on my face. "Where are we going?"

"Nowhere in particular." I actually wasn't sure. Wandering around the place normally cleared my head, but I could only think of both of the prophecies again. The longer I was away from my own time, the more the future would change, right? I grimaced.

It had been exactly like Annabeth and I discussed before the whole mess happened. Somewhere out there—out _here—_there was a little Annabeth and a little Percy just itching to take Kronos down.


	5. Lucas Does Some Romeoing

**Chapter 5: **Lucas Does Some Romeo-ing

"Cabin Five, you're going to be our main attackers. The more we have on the offense with you guys, the better. Cabin Seven, go before them and take out as many campers you can to make the area clear for them. Cabin Eleven, you'll be our best distraction for the ambush. My cabin, waste _no time_ getting all of those traps up. Everyone else spread out. Callie, you're with me." Lucas's eyes didn't budge from the map that lay in front of him. After all of that, he put the game pieces on the board. He looked between us and especially me before saying: "Any questions?"

I raised my hand. His jaw tightened.

"Yes, new kid?"

"Yeah. Are you completely stupid?" A bunch of the kids around us burst into a fit of snickers, but he and I stared each other down. I looked at the map that he had lain out. Miniature pieces of each and every cabin leader were over the forest. Apollo and Athena kids had apparently wasted no time in making those; I was going to recommend that to Chiron of my time once I got back.

Lucas scowled, eyes narrowed. "I believe I'm the head of Athena Cabin and therefore good with the strategies. You guys see any flaws?" He looked over to the kids behind him, who shook their heads. "Who're you to think that you can order me around?"

"The kid your sister begged you to put on your team," I said, gesturing to Callie. We shared a lowfive under the stump and I observed the game board again. "It's a good idea to put the Ares Cabin on offense, I'll give you that, but you're leaving the prison completely open. Take it from a guy who's played Capture the Flag before: more kids snagged is good thing. Leaving prison open for other kids to snag the snagged is bad thing. You should take Apollo Cabin off the offensive and put them on the defensive." Both Cabins looked offended, but Lucas was the only one who didn't want me to continue. Sucks for him; I was on a roll. "You guys have great eyes; you'd be able to see any of them coming from a mile away. They're not going to expect arrows while trying to get their friends, and if you scour out a bit further to ambush them, you'll get more prisoners.

"And," I gestured to the Hades Cabin, who I was surprised he hadn't even mentioned, "have you guys learned shadow travel?"

Of the three of them, only two of them shook their heads. I looked at them again and then at the map. "How accurate are you? Are you able to travel short distances for a long time?"

The boy who had nodded his head scratched his brow. "Five times total—why?"

I looked back at Lucas, who looked like he was still trying to understand the concept of shadow travel. "He'll be your scourer. If you want to make it easy, then he's definitely your guy—uh...."

"Hayden Serverus." Hayden was grim looking, but glowed with his siblings almost as much as Artemis and her Huntresses. He was maybe a year or two younger than me, but held the same ghost-white eyes as his father.

"Janus Cabin would be good to guard the flag," I said. Lucas's eyes hadn't left the map, and I could tell that he was able to grasp my plan pretty easily.

"So that way, there are two different personalities to mess with in each of them," he mumbled.

"And once they get comfortable with one battle style, they'll be thrown off guard by a totally different one—if we're lucky. Can never predict when split personalities set off, you know?" I looked over to the Janus Campers. What was cool about them was that they were heterochromic—which meant that one eye was a different color from the other. All of them had the same pattern; one blueish eye and one gold eye put in the same place on both of them. They did this freaky thing where when their personality changed, their eye colors switched.

"Nana thinks that you're crazy." 'Nana' looked over to me, her eyes narrowed. Quickly her eye colors switched and her eyebrows widened. "Anna's right; you've seriously lost it, kid. Don't you think it'd be better to follow Lucas's ideas? He's the one from the Athena Cabin, after all."

I stared at her. "What's attack maneuver number sixty-eight?"

Nana's eyes widened and she arched an eyebrow. "Are you crazy? Only Anna knows that move!" Her eyes switched around again and she began bickering among herself. In case you're still confused, Nana and Anna are the same person. Sorta.

A grin fell upon my face and I gestured to the game board. "See?" The whole entire Athena Cabin had stared at the board with widened eyes, as if they had just had an epiphany. If you want to know the secret, it's actually based off of a plan Annabeth had last summer for when we played Capture the Flag too; I just kind of ripped it off.

Callie raised her hand. "Do you... have any certain order for me?"

"Well...," I was hesitant. Lucas was glowering again. I looked at all of the campers to see if they were still going to go with my plan and quickly messed with the board. "It'll be best if Poseidon Cabin is on first line defense in front of the creek. How fast can you run, Callie?"

"Pretty fast, considering how much Jackson makes his little sister run away from the battlefield." Snickers erupted from the Ares Cabin. I shuddered. Say it was a gut feeling, but I'm pretty sure that even after seventeen years, the God of War still had it out for me.

"Good. She can go with you then, Chase." I looked at Chase Rodriguez again, who was absolutely mortified.

Callie hit me and hissed, "Are you crazy?! I don't want to—"

"You're small. They're never going to see you coming under a crowd of Ares kids, especially under this light." You should have been here; it was hilarious. Chase Rodriguez's eyes had widened to the size of his shield, and Callie's jaw had dropped all the way to the ground. I was hoping that the dark of the night hid the smirk on my face. "Look, I don't know if there's some kind of eternal rivalry between you two or something—" seriously, you try being here and not snickering "—but you can work together. She's a child of the Big Three, isn't she? Best not to underestimate what she can do."

They eyed each other with matching grimaces. Callie sighed, and I think she was hoping that she could come with me. I looked over to Lucas, who was torn between family or trying to win. Understand that we demigods can be very competitive when it comes to these things—especially if it's between Aphrodite Cabin and Apollo Cabin for watching either High School Musical 3, the uncut version, or Valkyrie.

"You and me, Lucas." I picked up his piece from the map again and picked up a random twig to represent me. I smirked, "I want to see if you can keep up."

Hermes Cabin immediately started the 'ooooo'-ing. Really, things never change around here. I couldn't help but smile.

"Is everyone cool with the plan?" Everyone nodded and we broke. Callie and Chase Rodriguez sent me two last glares before they dispersed in the crowd. I turned around. "Now, Lucas—"

"Come on. Let's get going." He was already three yards ahead of me when I ran after him.

"Hey," I put a hand on his shoulder when I finally got to him. "Your plan was a good idea—don't get me wrong, but you had some open spaces."

"Oh really?" There was one good thing about him: he was able to control his tone when he was angry. When I looked over to him, his fists were clenched and he was clearly aggravated. "No offense, but I'm pretty sure I've been doing this longer than you."

"I doubt it."

"Eight years."

"Oh." This would have been my sixth year being at Camp Halfblood. Not only was he at camp longer, but he was also an Athena Cabin kid. The thing was, I probably had more experience than he did. "There were a couple of things wrong with your plan. Other than that, it was pretty logical."

He wasn't replying.

I arched an eyebrow. "If this was a real battle and you had had Callie go with you, can you honestly tell me that you'd be able to go through with your goal without worrying about her safety?" He walked faster, obviously trying to get away from me. I lingered behind him, but the look on his face told me he was thinking about it. "You aren't exactly vague when it comes to being protecting of your sister, dude. Then, you saw how Rodriguez and she looked at each other. The last thing everyone will expect is for those two to get along, and it's a fifty-fifty chance they'll work at your advantage or work against you."

"And they know that I hate your guts, so seeing you come with me won't help the situation," He concluded for me.

"One: ouch. Two: pretty much." I looked at him, and Athena's words came to mind again. "You don't trust your sister enough."

"Of course I trust my sister." Lucas glanced at me, eyebrows arched and eyes bugged out. He pulled me back behind a tree less than a second later. Over his shoulder were three kids from the other team.

"Sure you do," I whispered. "Look, I have a little brother of my own. Okay—half brother, but that's not the point. I had a pet hamster too when I was little, and I'd feed him and come to his aid when he needed me, but other than that, I didn't pay much attention to him. Poor Speedy died two days we brought him home."

"Your point?" He whispered back. His eyes glazed over as he glanced my way again. They were gray.

"That's a close simile to what you do with your sister. Let the little rodent be free!" We revealed our locations and charged at the three other demigods. They were taken aback, seeing both Lucas and I. Soon, they were on the ground groaning. A kid from our team soon came up to us and took them away.

"I'm pretty sure you mean metaphor." We heard a charge of Ares kids and then screams from the other kids. Lucas scowled at me again. Let me make one thing clear: he seriously got that from his mother. "And what makes you think that calling my baby sister a rodent is going to help her?"

"Your sister isn't a baby," it was my turn to sneer. "She's pretty quick-witted, and Annie did a good job of teaching her all about the Greek myths. If she ever encounters one, then I'm sure that she'll be able to come up with a tactic to go against it."

Lucas had suddenly tensed again and looked over in my direction. His eyes had flickered again, and he was solemn. We stayed across the creek, and my eyes fixed on our next location. Ares Cabin's pillaging had knocked campers out and unconscious. The Poseidon Cabin had done a good job of keeping everyone from passing. We observed for a while before three other campers were taken as prisoners.

"I'm out of ideas," I lied. For once, he looked pleased.

"Just charge and follow my lead," He said. Lucas then pointed to a tree in the middle of the bunch. "Ivy Stoll from Demeter Cabin is the other Cabin. How good are you at jumping and shimmying?"

"Pretty good." The truth was, his plan was much better than what mine would have been: charge.

He was silent again before pointing to another tree. "There. Do you see the Zeus kid up there?"

I nodded. "Sort of."

"We've got sixteen of them to worry about from aerial. So long as we can shove them to the ground before they have a chance to electrocute us, then we've got a shot at killing their defenses." His eyes flickered again and he smirked. "Stoll isn't stupid to just have a front line. All of the Zeus kids in the trees _are_ her front line."

"Greek armor plus lightning is a big owie," I commented.

"What, you scared?" Lucas looked at me with that smirk of his again.

"No," I pushed my helmet out of my eyes and observed the only Zeus camper that I could see. I looked his way and nudged my head. "Tell you what: I'll go first. Just uh, watch my back, okay?"

"Because it's still healing?"

"Something like that." He didn't look interested in the fact. I pointed to the cabin members myself. "Obviously, they're using the night to their advantage. If I go first, then you'll be able to spot them and uh, throw something at them to knock them out. Sound good?"

"Of the sort."

We broke into action. I charged forward, Riptide in hand with a big "AHHH!" The Poseidon kids were startled, quickly getting out of my way. My first instinct was to call the waves and tell them to lift me into the air, but I stopped myself. Instead, I leaped as far as I could, getting a cushion from the waters I wasn't able to leap over. Lightning from the first tree ricocheted off the bark and lunged for me. I dodged, barely having time to react when another bolt lunged for me. Riptide deflected it, and I picked up a rock to throw at them. One kid was off balance. He steadied himself before falling out of the tree and hitting his head. Zeus's kids: great up in the air. Horrible coming down.

"Hey, watch out!"

Lucas had gotten to me before I had the chance to look his way. He threw three metal pills into the air. All of them erupted into tiny explosions and caused five unprepared kids to plummet with a big 'Oof!'.

"Thanks for the save," I said through my heavy breathing. I followed after him as we continued our journey. "You didn't have to do that. It wouldn't have hurt."

He halted the both of us, and turned my way. It had been the first time that I got a good look of his face. He was about my height, possibly just a little shorter, and his haircut was shorter and neater than mine. It was dark like the depths of a crevasse in the oceans and curled in the way Katie Gardner and Sonny Yew both dubbed as my 'beach bum' look. At the moment, he had Annabeth's eyes, but I'd have seen them flicker back and forth from sea green to gray the same way Callie's did. His ears were definitely Annabeth's, but we had a good mirror thing going for us. He looked straight into my eyes, and his eyebrows did this twitchy thing. "I know."

I followed after him again, unsure of where we were going. I was about to ask him where we were going, but another question popped into my head. "Hey, Lucas. How come your sister's in Poseidon Cabin, but you're in Athena Cabin?" The way I phrased it didn't make sense, but I quickly added, "are you sure you're not cousins or something?"

It was amazing that we were the only two around. Half of me was worried that Callie and the Ares Cabin had all been caught, but the other half was wondering if we had a lot of prisoners on our end. Lucas turned his head two seconds later with an unusual expression. He was hesitant, but finally, he responded, "Co-dominance."

"Co-dominance?" I repeated. "Like in biology?"

"Exactly like in biology. Genetically, Gods are Gods. Their eye color is dominant either way, and normally we get our hair from our mothers, or," He was hesitant again, "our fathers. If two genes are dominant for the same trait, then they end up sharing. But the Gods don't like to share; that's why the Big Three split who ruled what, why Poseidon and Athena couldn't co-rule Athens, why Kronos ate all his kids, and," he grimaced, "don't even get me started on Hera."

"And her cows?"

"Apollo's cows. So instead of having some freaky eye color, there's a tug-of-war between the eye colors. And the eye colors," he continued, "determine whose genes you have and whose genes you don't."

"Oh." That made sense. All of Athena Cabin back home had gray eyes, but there were times where I could swear that I saw green or blue in the bunch. The same was with Aphrodite Cabin—some had dark eyes and others had light. At the time of battle though, they would all be in sync. "but what about the Cabins you're assigned to? You're in the Athena Cabin, but I've seen you with eyes like Callie's before. The Gods promised to claim all of their children by the time they turn thirteen."

Lucas was eyeballing me again when we took the chance to run forward. "So you've already done that."

"Done what?" I asked after we ambushed three more Zeus campers.

He scowled again. "Nothing."

I reluctantly nodded and began our walk ahead. Lucas paced forward about three steps ahead of me. "Could you tell me one reason why you don't like me?" I called after him. "I can promise you that I don't have a crush on your sister. I've got a girlfriend at home. She knows that, too."

He stopped again. "Annie?"

"Huh?"

Lucas turned around again and began his own scrutiny. "I said Annie. As in, Annabeth Chase."

Uh-oh. I took an awkward step backwards, Riptide in hand and tried my best to nonchalantly shrug. "Uh..." How was I going to get out of this one? Annabeth had a twin sister? ...Named Annabeth? Annie's a common name? Chase is a common last name?

"Don't be stupid—I know who you are," his voice was icy again, but I couldn't tell why, "Percy Jackson."

Crap. I scratched my head, looking around to see if anyone around heard. No one was there. Finally, I sighed in defeat and took the helmet off my head. "How much do you know?"

"Depends." He followed up with, "how much do _you_?"

"You're my son and Callie's my daughter." I couldn't believe how much I was already telling him after three days of trying to keep a low profile. He nodded his head at the piece of information, like he was approving and confirming my statement. "I went missing six years ago and Annie—your mother... she's..." I didn't bother to say it. Lucas's eyes flickered again, and I wasn't the only one that was enraged.

"I know what happened to her." His words were bitter and full of death. We had fallen silent again, but we hadn't moved from our spot. Capture the Flag was a useless waste of time compared to everything he was telling me. It was the first time he let his guard down in front of me—sort of. Anyone could have walked up to us to kidnap us now that we weren't paying attention.

"I'm sorry I went missing," I put a hand on his shoulder. He shrugged it off. "Lucas—I get back. Otherwise, Callie wouldn't be here."

He looked straight at me, eyes narrowed. "How do you know Callie wasn't born from my mother's thoughts like I was?"

I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out. It was true; the me in this time had gone missing for six years, and the second I got back to my time, Annabeth wasn't going to be there with a warm smile and open arms. I would have been back, telling her that our kids had turned out great, but she'd still be confused. "You hate me, don't you?" I asked.

Lucas's eyes softened, and he put down his own sword. His was identical to Riptide; the only difference would have been the chipped tip on mine and the perfect one on his. "Let's just say I have a personal grudge against something you did."

I couldn't help but gesture to his sword. "Is that...?"

"Riptide, my time." Lucas glanced over to me and then at my own. "The day that you went missing, I found it outside of camp. It was balanced, and I've been using it ever since." He handed it over to me, but his Riptide did the most surprising thing: it dropped dead to the ground, unbalanced. We both looked surprised, taking that into account.

"That's... not supposed to happen." I mumbled. We heard a rustle of the bushes and quickly, both of us tensed. I picked up my own Riptide the same time he picked up his, and we got up. A couple of feet away was a girl in her own armor, who almost literally glowed like a firefly. "Who's that?"

"April Somers from the Persephone Cabin." _Persephone Cabin?_ My eyes widened, and I scanned her again. This would have been the first time I'd ever seen one of her kids up close. April Somers had a tan that you could only get in the summer, and long, auburn hair. From all that armor and earthy glow, ivy and vines were curling around her helmet and sword. A ripe, exotic flower could be seen behind her ear. She had to be sixteen, like Lucas.

"She's kind of hot," I nonchalantly said.

"I know."

From the corner of my eye, I could see him turning a little pink. I grinned. Remind me to tease him later about that, would you? "I want to see how well you battle without your sister."

"What—?" I pulled on his gauntlet and shoved him from our hiding place. Lucas cried out a big oof. Ooh, that was bad. He had a bad landing—on April. I returned to my hiding place and put the helmet back over my head.

"Well, look what the hellhound dragged in," I heard April say. Her voice had some kind of undertone like Persephone's, but was cute. "So what're you gonna do, Lulu? Come quietly, or do you really wanna take some time and have me kick your butt first?"

"Looks like someone's confused about how everything's going to work." There was clanging of swords. Quickly, I looked over to them and saw Lucas with an advantage over her. April tilted back and clanged her gauntlet into Lucas's weapon. She slid under him and kicked him in the back before she had him pinned to the ground.

"After all these years growing up with you, I can still kick your butt, Lulu." Ouch. That wasn't degrading at all. April reached for orange Team belt Lucas had, but he saw it coming. Lucas feinted a kick to her hand and quickly tripped her before rolling away in one piece.

They got back up in sync, and April charged at him with her vine covered sword. Lucas jabbed his sword forward, but April was too quick for him. She leaped into the air, dropping the sword entirely and caught him off guard with an unseen dagger. It wasn't enough to pierce armor, but I saw Lucas clutch his cheek. The thing about the battle was that there was no pause. April wasn't kidding when she said that they grew up together; they were in perfect sync with each other. When one attacked, the other defended, and when one defended, the other took the chance for another attack.

"Not bad," April said as Lucas delved for another kick. "So when are you actually gonna start trying?"

"When you do," Lucas replied. He lunged for her quickly and she had done something he hadn't expected: completely stay still. They fell to the ground, and laughed. It was the first time I actually saw him smile when they were up close like that. Suddenly, it faded and he rolled away from her. "Uh..." he coughed and gestured in my direction. "We um, should be heading off if you're still gonna chase us."

"No sweat," April smirked, completely indifferent. She held up something that neither of us see her get: his belt. "You're going to prison, Lucas." Suddenly, her expression changed and her cheeks splattered a rosy red. "Did you say... 'we'?"

I took the chance to reveal myself, grinning like an idiot. "I'll uh, be on my way. Have fun, lovebirds." I rushed out of the area and into the forest. I kept running and running, unable to wipe the stupid grin off my face. There was such luck—Lucas was the perfect guy I needed for recruitment. He had been analyzing every move she made, taking very subtle pauses before retaliating with his own move. Plus, it was just downright hilarious how he looked every time he glanced at her. All idiotic and in love. I paused—was that how I looked at Annabeth after all these years?

"It'd certainly explain why everyone knew I had a crush on her," I said aloud to no one in particular. When I finally stopped, I had ended up at the beach and away from the battlefield. If I was going to make this prophecy work, then I was going to have to find the six people. One down, five to go.

The moon was deeper and brighter in the sky, gleaming bright and strong. I had seen Grover again not too long ago, but he seemed absolutely mortified. Not that poking him in the arm gave him the jitters before, but he seemed twice as before. Thalia and Tyson were the only other ones that I hadn't heard about since the ordeal started. Tyson was probably still working in Atlantis with Dad, and Thalia... well, Thalia had twenty siblings and counting now. Part of me was wondering whether or not she was still alive. Nothing made sense in this future.

Whatever Kronos has done so far, he definitely did a good job of it. I sighed,taking off my armor and collapsing into the sand. My toes met with the tides as I thought about it again. In total, seven campers need to 'answer the call.' One of them was me, a Poseidon Camper. Children of the Big Three was what was going to help me. One from Hades Cabin, one from Zeus's Cabin. Someone from Athena Cabin—Lucas—would be able to be a good strategist, having learned from Annabeth herself. Three more campers to think about.

"It is... a nice day for fishing, isn't it?"

I turned around. At the dock was a little girl holding a bow that was too big for her stature. She stood on a giant rock, eyes locked onto a couple of fish roaming in the shallower waters. Slowly, I began walking up to her and watched her pluck a long hair from her head before stringing the bow.

"Isn't that a little dangerous?" She didn't look like anyone from the Apollo Cabin. She was a bit too small, but it would've been stupid of me to underestimate anything she could do.

"You underestimate me, Percy Jackson." She took an arrow from the sack on her back and stood at the tips of her toes. Her fingers strummed the bow for only a second before she let go. I didn't even get the chance to see the arrow shoot off before the fish were caught, waddling, and dripping with blood as she reeled them in. "Your father would probably approve more of a fishing reel. I like the old ways better." The waves seemed to swish back and forth a bit more rapid, but she didn't think much of it. When she turned to me, I finally realized who she was.

"Lady Artemis," I said. I bowed in respect at the little girl as she walked up to me.

Artemis tapped my shoulder gently and I took the liberty of standing back up. Behind her, the moon iridescently glowed and matched the stunning color of her white eyes. A smile formed on her face. "It's been a long time since I've seen you look so healthy, Percy."

"That's nice to say coming from the Goddess of the Hunt," I felt myself blush and smiled. "That's uh, good, right, Lady Artemis?"

She nodded, humming a hymn to Apollo as she scrutinized my form. "I'm glad I was able to catch you at a good time."

"So it doesn't bother you that I've got seventeen years worth more baby face than before?" I couldn't help but smile, and she smiled back. "I'm honored, Artemis. Uh—don't you need to get back to your hunters though?"

The smile on her face widened and she shook her head. "What I've come to see you for is much more important. Thalia is leading the hunt as we speak. Something about a giant swine, I think."

"So she's safe?" Artemis nodded again. I let out a sigh of relief and her smile faded slightly.

"My hunters are not only safe, but in dire danger. I'm sure you've been informed about Atropos's death."

"Atropos..." The name was familiar. I looked over to her again, but I hadn't realized how pale she really was from the last time I saw her. "She's the Fate that cuts the string of each human." It had been just like in my dream when Nyx had said the Fates were dying. "I thought that they were beings even greater than the Gods, though."

"They measure the time of one's death and are life itself," Artemis looked back at me, white eyes sad and distraught. "Kronos is the God of Time. Until a new deity is found to replace her, no one will die—not even Kronos himself."

"That's bad." No matter how many times we would defeat Kronos, he'd just be able to stand up, cackle, and pummel us to the ground. Over and over and over—it was bad enough that he'd be able to go back in time and do the same thing. "When I saw him, his form was almost complete. If he's invulnerable, how are we supposed to fight him?"

"Time is both his strongest point and his weakest, Percy." Artemis's voice was small.

I flashed a look of concern and supported her when she fell into my arms. "The Hunt. Now that none of the monsters you kill are dead, you're losing your powers."

For a Goddess, she was surprisingly light. Artemis was shivering again. "My powers have been draining for a while now. Until he is stopped and Atropos is replaced, I won't be able to lead the hunters." She flashed a somber look. "You must choose your hunters carefully, Percy. Anyone who might be a nuisance to you, Kronos will use at his advantage. Any wrong move will cost you your life."

"So just like old times, huh?" I joked. It had gotten a smile out of her, but she shook her head.

"My brother requests I stay at Mount Olympus for healing until I feel better." Artemis was beginning to stay. "Will you give her a message when you see her?" I nodded.

There was a bright flash, and I looked away. If I had looked when Artemis went into her divine state, I would have died. In the back of my head, I could still hear her voice echoing:

_"Do not trust the flowers." s_


	6. I Get My Fortune Told

**A/N:** Haha. So anyone surprised that I took two days to update? I'm glad you guys are liking the story so far; it's fun to see that. I was just curious—anyone want to see what their kids look like? I don't mind drawing them. Read and review!

**Chapter 6**: I Get My Fortune Told

I stared at the moon for probably a ten whole minutes without blinking. It was a force of habit, but the fact that Artemis was weakening was not a good sign. If Atrophos has been killed, then life wasn't the only thing that was in trouble—death was too. Hades couldn't do anything about it if Atrophos was dead. It would be an all out bloody war with a beginning, middle, and no end. I curled my hands into sand. _And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death. _Yup, sounded pretty bad already.

"-id it! You were totally right about that plan, Billy Joe Armstrong! Ivy didn't expect Chase and I to get along like that at _all_!"

I snapped out of my thoughts and looked up. Callie dropped the wooden sword in her grasp and was in a fit of squeals before I could react. Her smile suddenly faded and she flashed a concerned look. "How long have you been standing there?" I asked.

"Two seconds. Five at most." She held a hand out and picked me up before pouting. "You okay, Billy?"

Once again, I was speechless. "You're seriously gonna call me that?"

"Yeah." A blush splattered her cheeks and a bright smile spread across her face. "It's the closest thing that we have to finding your name, even if it isn't. Is it okay if I call you that?"

Really, how could you not help but think that's cute? I tried to smile, shrugging again. The guilt was bubbling at my stomach for not being able to tell her, but everything was still too complicated. Lucas was right to be keeping this a secret—if he was, that is. "Who was the one who got the flag?"

"Chase." She didn't look bothered by the fact. Maybe putting them together like that wasn't too big of a bad thing. "But I helped out more than he thought I could, so that's good, right, Billy Joe Armstrong?" I nodded. "I'm gonna get back to the ground. Can't let him have _all _the credit!" She ran back before I had the chance to open my mouth. In the background, I could hear her echoing, "Tell my brother I said 'I told you so'!"

"Will do!" I called back. The waves splashed against my ankles and made my feet wet. The ocean was a funny color during the night: a horribly dark blue, but a mellow black. In the middle of all of that, it was a little green like my dad's. It was perfect when compared to the Big Three. I sighed, looking at the calm waves again. Sea foam met my feet. I soaked in the gentle feeling with open arms before asking, "Are you worried about me, Dad?"

It was just a little sign, and probably not a sign at all, but I could hear a whale call all the way in the middle of the ocean. I smiled lightly before finally leaving.

—

"So are your parents still trying to marry you off to Serverus?" That was Lucas's voice. I stopped in my tracks, hiding behind a tree. He was still with April, but the two hadn't taken the time to leave yet. Lucas was watching her as she was armor-free and spawning flips like she learned them when she was a baby. April stopped and balanced on the ground with one hand. He smiled slightly. "Show off."

"They think because his mother has a lot of money, she'll be able to profit the circus." A little bitterness was at the edge of April's tongue. "Serverus is the only way for Dad to be able to roam free without any worries. He gets his freedom and Hayden gets a pretty trophy wife in two years."

"Two years?" Lucas's tone raised in shock. "They can't marry you off in two years! …Can they?"

"I'll legally be eighteen. You know what that means—they used to marry earlier in the old days." She did another flip in the air and landed on the tip of her toes.

Lucas smiled. "Show off. Guess what you get from all those years being in the Circus, huh?"

Circus? That definitely didn't sound like the kind of guy that Persephone would hang out with. April finally landed on her feet, but tilted back and was walking on her hands. "There are two things about my mother you should understand: she was tricked to stay in the Underworld against her will and when she was going to get married, she wanted to be free, and in love."

That was three things. "That's three things." I looked at Lucas again. He seemed uncomfortable, finding the little plastic thingies on the strings of his tennis shoes more interesting than what April was saying.

"The point is," April's voice was tiny, and she stared at the ground, eyebrows furrowed. "I don't want to be in an arranged marriage. When I get married, I want to be in love." Uh-oh. Looks like I was getting into an intense moment. April looked up, staring directly at him. "Not many people understand that about me."

"Sucks for you then, huh?" Lucas hadn't bothered to look up. The scuff marks on his shoes were much more important than a girl who obviously had feelings for him. "Choosing between marrying for the sake of your loved ones or marrying someone you love. You'd be wise to go with the former."

"But I'd be crazy if I didn't go with the latter." She sat down next to Lucas and pulled a lock of hair behind her ear. All that time, the flower that she kept in it hadn't budged an inch. "Lucas, you've been there for me ever since you stepped up to go with me to the Underworld when we were ten."

"Before the Winter Solstice to retrieve something your mother forgot. I know." Lucas was an idiot to be staring at his feet. "You saved my butt from getting eaten by Cerberos. And my legs."

"Exactly!" April's voice bounced off the forest trees. She smiled again, getting up to her feet. "Lucas, I want to marry a man that knows everything about me. He needs to be able to protect me, but still know when I need my space. If… if you aren't that guy, then I don't know _who_ is."

Lucas didn't look any bit taken aback. Instead, he looked a bit disappointed. "April, a lot has been happening to me lately. Nothing's been going right, and my life isn't perfect right now. Callie doesn't know what kind of dangers that are awaiting us, and she still doesn't know what happened to our dad." To me? He shuddered. "Or to my mother." April was silent as he continued. "No matter how much I dislike it, Hayden is a good match for you. He'll be around when you need someone, and he'll be able to protect you."

She looked crushed. "But Lucas—"

"I'm _sorry_, April. It's best for the both of us." He looked up, gray eyes completely blank. April's eyes fell to the ground, completely defeated.

"Apes—you there?" Hayden Serverus from before appeared out of the bushes and looked between Lucas and April. "Am I interrupting something?"

April didn't look twice when it came to Lucas. She ran up to Hayden and tugged on his arm. "No. Did you need me for something?" Her auburn hair seemed to darken under the moonlight, and her glowing skin faded with it.

In return, Hayden's cheeks were splattered with different shades of red. "We're singing campfire songs. I didn't want you to miss any."

She gave one last look to Lucas, whose eyes still stayed to the ground. Finally, she bit her lip and nodded her head. "Sure." They were off and lost in the darkness before Lucas finally gathered the nerve to look after her.

I let out a low whistle and walked up to him. "Smooth move, Junior." Lucas's eyes widened as he looked in my direction, but it melted into a glower and he looked away. I couldn't help but have a tiny, smug 'I told you so' in the back of my head. I put a hand on his shoulder in comfort, but he shrugged it off. "Trust me—I know how it feels to be torn between duty and love. Everyone gave me a hard time for putting my feelings aside. Apparently saving the world is much less important than telling a girl I like her."

Lucas shrugged me off again, unable to look my way. As I stared at him, I started whistling some songs off the top of my head. I'm sure you guys are familiar with 'Thewheelsonthebusgoroundandroundroundandroundthewheelsonthebusgoroundandround—' "I'm not good enough for her."

Darn. We were getting to the windows too. Lucas looked completely serious when I turned his way. Once again, I tried putting a hand on his shoulder. "I know how that feels too. I'm still wondering whether or not I'm good for Annabeth."

"Trust me. You're not." Lucas shrugged my arm off again. I arched an eyebrow and opened my mouth to retaliate, but he only looked at me with sea green eyes. How could you attack your own son? "She was right about you. You run away."

"You don't even know why I'm here."

"True enough." Lucas got to his feet and began walking back to camp. I followed after him. "Why _are_ you here?"

"What, can't I spend Father's Day with my son?" Alright, bad move. He was scowling at me again, and for a good reason. I stopped for a second, hands shoving into my pockets. Quickly, I changed the subject before he could get anything else out of me. "You could go after her."

Lucas's eyes softened. "She could get killed if she goes along with anything I do," he said. He waited, expecting me to come up with another comeback. Good news: I did.

"That's like the first thing you learn in camp, isn't it? Risk everything to get one thing." I looked at him expectantly, and he paused again. "Obviously, I dated Annie—your mother. Obviously, I married her. Obviously? I went missing during one event and she went missing six years later. See?"

"Oh really?" Lucas's voice rose again and he growled. "What's the most dangerous thing that you've ever done?"

"Give my mother chocolate for Mother's Day after she told me she was dieting." Surprisingly enough, I was able to get a small smile out of him. I went further with questioning. "Is my mother… she's okay, right? Nothing's happened to her or Paul?"

"They're fine. We've been staying with Uncle Matt for the time being." Uncle Matt? That was one of Annabeth's brothers.

"Why would you stay there? It'd be the last place I'd ever put you if some monster comes and tries to snatch you up." I arched an eyebrow. He stopped again and spewed another glare.

"That's the point." He walked faster, and I didn't take up the chance to follow him and tell him about Artemis.

"Just so you know," I called after him, "there's nothing cool about being all mysterious and cool anymore!" He didn't look back to me. I frowned and sighed. How was I going to recruit the others if my own future strategist didn't want to listen to a single word I said? I scratched my head and walked after him, but once again he had stopped. "What are you looking at?" I faced the direction he was.

A couple yards ahead of us, Callie and Chase Rodriguez were fighting with wooden swords. Chase delved into her, elbow first for her stomach. Callie blocked with her own sword, but plummeted to the ground from the force.

"Ow…" Callie groaned. She clutched her elbow, which was bleeding.

Lucas jumped for her, but I held him back. He glared at me, growling and alarmed, but I shook my head. In return, Chase cackled and smugly shook his head. "You need some more muscle, Jackson. Unless you start learning how to handle yourself with a sword, the only thing that you'd be able to fight is a dandelion. And," he added quickly, "the dandelion would _win._"

She then did something that neither of us expected: she nodded her head. "Okay," Callie said. She got up, tossing the wooden sword to the ground and the two started walking back to the camp talking about nonsense.

"What if it gets infected?" Lucas suddenly asked me. He growled, staring at me straight in the eye. "You have no idea what kind of bugs are out here—they could turn her into a mutant or something!"

"Then we may have a chance to get rid of Kronos because of a bug bite," I mocked. Narrowing my eyes, I said in a low tone, "I saw Artemis."

His eyes widened. He scoffed, looking away. "In your dreams. The Gods haven't revealed themselves for a long time now."

"Really?"

"Yes. It's been risky to go out—especially in the night." He was talking about Nyx. Lucas looked my way, unconvinced before he yanked me along and far from the campfire ahead. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Dude, you may hate me, but there's something that bonds us together: genetics." I jabbed a finger in his chest and scowled. There was no way we were going to argue the whole time when there was a God of Time out there who already has it out for Olympus. "I need you. You may not like it, but we're going to work together and make sure that Olympus stays intact. For one, he's stepping on the Lord of the Dead's turf."

"What do you mean?" He was confused.

"No one can die. If no one can die, then the big guy won't be able to draw his powers from the souls." I scowled. "I'm sure you're aware of the Great Prophecy."

Lucas stared at me for a second. I was about to tell him the prophecy myself, but his eyes had suddenly widened and he paled. "I'm not—"

"You are now," I cut in. My eyebrows furrowed, and I curled my fists. "The Oracle said herself that I was here for a reason. Kronos is already terrorizing the world; if we don't do something about it now, then we're pretty much screwed. You're my strategist, Lucas. If you think clearly."

He stared at me again, and the resemblance had come to mind once more. Black hair as dark as the depths of the sea, beach-bummish tan, same nose, same lips, and same height. He had Annabeth's ears and her meddling eyebrows. Lucas hadn't moved his mouth for what seemed like an eternity before finally, "One condition."

I let out a breath of relief. "What?"

"You don't let Callie get involved," his voice rose considerably. Lucas had uncapped his own Riptide and had it jabbed at my face before I could blink. "I don't care if you're my father or not—if you let her in on this thing, I'll rip your head off before you can say 'Poseidon.' It's between you, me, and the five other kids that we have to find."

"I'll go along with your condition if you go along with mine." He held his Riptide closer to my neck and scowled. I glared in return. "You and I were both trained my Chiron, I know how Annabeth ticks when it comes to her strategies, and I probably taught you a little bit of how to use a sword before I went missing. Plus, I'm sure you know I've already bathed in the River Styx. Don't go there, Lukey-boy."

The threat was empty. Still, Lucas seemed to contemplate about it before putting the cap back on his sword and shoving it into his pocket. "I'm listening."

"No secrets. No matter what I ask, you tell me the truth—_especially_ if it involves our family or Olympia up to this point, understood?" I looked at him seriously again and he was still contemplating about it before nodding.

"I can think of some kids that'll probably make the cut," Lucas mumbled. He looked at me again, and arched an eyebrow. "You okay with kids from the Big Three?"

"Promise it won't be a guy from the Zeus Cabin that wants to sleep with every girl he sees?" Please note the angry thunder and lightning that boomed in the sky.

Lucas smirked. "I'll see what I can do." It suddenly dropped and he scowled again. "But this doesn't mean I have to like you."

"Trust me, the feeling's mutual." I shrugged. We scampered off again towards the Cabins. Success—one kid down, five more to go. "So now that you have to answer any question I ask you with the truth and nothing but the truth, I'd like to ask you a simple one."

"Yes?"

"How long have you had the hots for that April chick?"

—

That night, I had gone to bed late after messing with Riptide a bit. The second my eyes closed and I hit the bed, I was left in Dreamworld—or so I thought. Everything was dark and hard to see, but I could recognize one annoying laugh in particular: Nyx.

"Perfect! This is all just _oh so_ perfect!" I tried to focus and finally made out three figures from darker shadows. Soon, lights lit throughout the whole tunnel from hung torches. Nyx looked different from what I had seen before. If anything, she had soaked in the night and darkness around her, looking more youthful and a pretty version of Cruella De Vil. If that's possible. Two kids stood in front of her, both sharing the same gold colored eyes. "He's done a good job with the two of you—I can't _wait_ until the new army comes!"

"Army?" The girl of the two looked hopeful. Her hair was trimmed short and cut in at least ten dozen spiky layers with rainbow highlights sprinkled everywhere. "There's going to be more of us?"

"That's the plan," Nyx laughed again before bending over and staring into both the boy and the girl. "Your father wouldn't possibly leave you in the dark like that. Don't you think he'll take good care of you?"

They were halfbloods. The boy, who had been silent before, suddenly scowled. "How come he hasn't been around then?"

"Oh, you know the struggles that he's faced. He does it all for you—I swear!" Nyx's voice raised a little, and she laughed nonchalantly again.

"On the River Styx?" the girl's own voice raised, and she glared at the Goddess of the Night. The boy tugged on her arm, quietly murmuring, 'Seychelle.'

"Do you not trust me?" Nyx looked offended, eyes half-open and narrowed. She scowled and arched an annoyed eyebrow. 'Seychelle' quieted and looked away. "It'd be best to trust your sibling until your father comes back, little girl. We're both fighting on the same side. If _you_ were to have a son that you knew would some day kill you even after you did something heroic, wouldn't _you_ try anything in your power to prevent it?"

Seychelle and her sibling didn't answer. Their eyes flickered irritably before Nyx laughed again. '_Her laugh is so lame_', mouthed the boy.

"Dustin, watch out!" Seychelle got in front of the boy, hand in the air. If it hadn't been for her, I wouldn't have noticed the arm casted in the shadows clutch the boy's ankle. It suddenly froze before reaching his chest with Seychelle's hand tensed. Sweat dripped timelessly from her moist forehead, and she gritted her teeth. Slowly, the shadow retracted in a precise motion before it was completely off of him. Seychelle relaxed immediately and collapsed in her sibling's arms.

"You didn't have to do that," Dustin muttered with worry.

She caught her breath and nudged her head in the direction of the blithe Nyx. "I do when she's the one you're insulting."

"At ease, darling." The shadow recoiled to her side and behind her figure. Nyx smiled, black lips curling from cheek-to-cheek. "You'd be wise to listen to your sister, dear little Dustin. Although—you two do show some potential. Let us train you for the time being."

Dustin wrapped his arms protectively over Seychelle and scowled. "Why would we want to train with _us_?"

"You're not training with _her_, you little twerps." No, they weren't. It was a new voice of someone entirely new—a man with hair as dark as the depths of the ocean and a tan from days in beach sun. "You'll be training with me."

Nyx squealed and draped her hands all over him. "I just _love_ a good show, boo. Do make the little boy shut up, won't you?"

His eyes literally flickered with a mixed emotion and he nodded his head. He was stiff under her grip and hadn't bothered to react to anything else. "I'll do my best to see to it that they go through the proper training."

"Boo?" Nyx asked in a seductive, whiny tine. I was with Seychelle and Dustin on this one when they started gagging. "You love me more than that blondie, right?"

He was hesitant again, eyes flickering uncontrollably. Nyx repeated her pet name with aggravation. "Yes—of course. I love you more than I love her." Suddenly, a sword was in his hand, half celestial bronze and half pure _mortal_ metal.

Seychelle and Dustin tensed, eyes on the sword.

"I'll torture them with love for you, my lady." He took a step forward, and both Seychelle and Dustin summoned their own weapons. A small smirk appeared over his features. "This shall be... fun."

—

I woke up seconds later, eyes glazed and widened. Sweat trickled down my nervous face as I tried to focus through my panting. Those kids... I clutched my head. Every time I blinked, I could see them and their gold eyes clear as day. They were Kronos's.

"You up, Billy Joe Armstrong?" Jace Stoll could be seen from the corner of my eye. He looked at me, eyes widened peculiarly before tapping me on the head. It spread into a wide, impish grin like his father's (Travis, I think. I never did get around to asking who was whose). "Earth to Armstrong. Are you ready? Your pizza's getting cold."

"Did you eat it?" I asked expectantly. Jace snickered, hands over his mouth before he shook his head.

"Of course not! That'd be so rude of me and a disgrace coming from the Hermes Cabin!" His eyes rolled over and dramatically put a hand on his chest. "Do we _honestly_ look like the type that would steal?"

"Just look at your last name and tell me yourself," I said brusquely. Jace's smile faded and he arched a confused eyebrow. His cousin didn't understand the joke either. I took the liberty of getting out of bed and inspecting my T-shirt and jeans. Chiron had me staying in the Hermes Cabin, claiming that in this time since no one knows me I'm going to have to be an unclaimed child. I'm really not gonna lie to you: just because all of the unclaimed kids are gonna stay here and the Hermes Cabin has to be cool with it, they'll still steal your stuff regardless of whether or not you're on their good side or bad side.

Making my way through all the trash that the Hermes Cabin was known to litter, I left and instinctively made my way to the Big House where Chiron, Mr. D, and Rachel would be.

"Morning Billy Joe Armstrong!" I was too absorbed in getting through to the Big House. My mind registered that it had been Callie who had said that, but I couldn't stop right now. Pleasedon'tfollowmepleasedon'tfollowmepleasedon'tfollowme—"Hey! Where are you heading off to?" Crap.

"No where, Callie," I faked a smile and shrugged. "I, uh—have a hunch I know what my name is. Ra—the Oracle wants to have a look to see if she can find whoever beat me up."

Her eyes widened ten times their normal size. Callie's lips immediately spread into an excited grin. "You did?! What is it? It's something cool, right?!"

"Sorry, can't talk right now. She said that she needed to be the first one to talk to before I decide anything," I responded. I dashed through the waters once again and slipped out with sopping wet pants. The Big House was another couple of minutes away—one if I ran. The second I got there, I practically jumped through the door and collided into a wall.

"Okay, gotta calm down, Jackson," I said to myself. I tried my best not to be a little antsy, but it wasn't the easiest thing to do.

"_Please! You __have__ to let me go. She could be in danger!_"

I paused. Someone was already here talking to Chiron and Mr. D, bright and early at—I checked my watch—....Three P.M. in the morning? Eheh. The voice was recognizable, but I couldn't recognize who it was.

Chiron, on the other hand, was easy enough to spot. _"I'm sorry. Now isn't a good time to let anyone out unless—"_

_"Unless what?" _The person's voice demanded. _"Unless I was a boy, right?" _

_"Not at all! Understand, not only is she in danger, but everyone on Mount Olympus as well. If Kronos was able to—"_

_"Fine, I get it."_ The door suddenly opened, and out popped April Somers. I blinked and she halted, staring at me with her dark green eyes. "Oh... you. Billy Joe Armstrong, right?"

"Something like that." I awkwardly smiled. She had changed her pitch from utterly angry to completely calm and petally. That was... disturbing. April stared at me for a second before sighing and walking away. I had a hunch it had something to do with the 'Unless I was a boy' comment. If it counted for anything, she _was_ pretty.

"Do you need something, Percy?" Chiron's voice, unlike April's, was more stressed and tense.

"Yeah." I came inside and closed the door behind me. Chiron was sitting down (which was probably kind of hard since he was a centaur) and looked wearier than he had when I first saw him a couple days back. "Has Rachel informed you about what's been going on and stuff?"

"Of course." Chiron's eyes widened slightly, like he was surprised that I even asked that question. I couldn't help but smile. "Have you heard anything new?"

My smile faded. "I had a vision of something. Of Nyx." Chiron's eyes widened again, and he had to control himself from whinnying in surprise. My eyes narrowed, and I scowled. "He's gathering an army, Chiron. Right now, it's only two kids, but they're both his own."

Beads of sweat were dropping off Chiron's forehead. He pressed a hand again his cheek and shook his head. "That's not good."

"There's one thing that I don't get though," I started again. I scratched my head and frowned. "How is it that he'd be able to have kids like that? When I saw him, he was still possessing some kid's body, and he made us time travel _here._"

"You just said your answer, Percy: time travel." Chiron's eyes scrambled on papers as he rummaged for new material. "So long as Kronos has timetravel, he can impregnate as many girls as he finds, warp into the future years from now when they're trained and recruit them."

Ew. The thought of that man reproducing would make the blind's eyes burn, the mutes scream, and the deaf to want to cover their ears. "In my dreams, they already had swords and looked like they knew what they were doing. They were probably a little bit younger than Lucas, but definitely older than Callie. As in, older than thirteen. So with the law decreeing no child can be left unclaimed by the time they're thirteen, even Kronos would have to claim them." Slowly, I added, "...right?"

"Correct." Chiron nodded my way. He rubbed his chin, eyebrow arched before grimacing. "Perhaps it's possible that they got their training here."

"_What_?" I looked at him like he was crazy.

"The law you made is less than twenty years old. Camp Halfblood has been around for decades—centuries, even. Everyone who is unclaimed stay at the Hermes Cabin, including the originals. Either way, we wouldn't have been able to pick it up even if Kronos had set it up himself. Do you remember their names, Percy?"

I thought about it and nodded my head. "Seychelle and Dustin."

He got up and walked to the filing cabinet. Five folders were in his hands when he came back. He opened every single one of them before placing them on the table. "Do you know which one is which?"

There were three Dustins and two Seychelles. A Dustin with dark curly hair and a set of vivid green eyes were on one. His profile said that he belonged to the Demeter Cabin in 1977. One in 1942 was from the Ares Cabin with brooding eyes, but the third one had gold eyes and a mess of black hair. Dustin Spead, 1968. One of the Seychelles had a dark tan and pearly white teeth, but she was obviously from the Apollo Cabin. That narrowed it down to Seychelle Simpson, who had the same golden eyes and funky highlights in her hair. 2006—that was three years ago. How did I not notice her? "What kind of camera did you use to take these pictures?"

"Camera?" Chiron was looking at me like I was crazy again. "The Apollo kids painted all of these."

That's kind of creepy. I pointed out the Dustin and the Seychelle and flipped through the files. "That's them, but I don't remember sharing a cabin with that Seychelle girl."

"Are you sure?" Chiron's eyes widened and he arched an eyebrow. "I remember perfectly well that you upset her one day when you first came. She beat you to a pulp and—"

I arched an eyebrow. You'd think I would remember someone with so many colors in her hair to beat me up. "And?"

Chiron scratched his head and frowned. "Well... I really can't recall anything else that happened after that. She didn't return to camp the next summer and was assumed to be dead."

"That assumption was wrong then." Seychelle in the picture looked exactly like in my dream. My eyebrows furrowed. "What if she wasn't supposed to be here? Maybe she was born like, a day ago, and Kronos jumped fifteen years into the future just to get her?"

"Then he's definitely working faster than we thought," Chiron shuddered, suddenly paling. "The next time you see him, it's possible that he will have doubled or quadrupled that amount. You have to be careful, Percy. Have you gathered the other six yet?"

"Lucas is going to go with me." I scratched my head and frowned. "I haven't had the chance to look at the other campers. _Someone_ is depriving me of that privilege."

"Percy, if I were to let you be in those classes, you could _teach_ the class."

"And that's really a bad thing?" Chiron opened his mouth to say something against it, but stopped. He was speechless. I was on a roll. "If I teach them the moves, then my future team will know what to expect. Not only that, but I know how to handle a war. They don't. _Please_, Chiron."

He stared at me again, hesitant. "Do you promise not to blow your cover?"

"I'm not exactly blending in," I snorted. "Face it, Chiron. It's in my nature to stick out. It's a good strategy—I'll be able to read the moves and know what I have to work with. Lucas'll be there too and... well, Lucas'll be there too."

Chiron sighed and shook his head. He was quiet for a second before finally saying, "...I'll think about it."

—

"You're horrible at keeping this secret."

"You're horrible for telling me I'm horrible at keeping this secret." Lucas was following me around when I finally got out of the Big House. He had apparently shooed Callie off because she wasn't there. Lucas's sea green eyes narrowed at me, but I only shrugged and said, "Any reason why you tell me that?"

"The first thing you do when you wake up: uncap Riptide and scream to the world about Kronos. Second thing: you conduct a battle plan for the fake Hydra and Capture the Flag. Third thing: you're always running around in a panic." Lucas arched an unimpressed eyebrow. "I find it hard to believe that we're related."

Humorlessly, I plucked a hair out of his head and pointed to the black strand. "Don't forget: stupidity is genetic, Lukey-boy."

"Unfortunately enough." He sighed behind me and arched an eyebrow. "Where are you going?"

"Hephaestus Cabin. I need to fix Riptide." I looked at him from the corner of my eye as I fished for my sword. "It got chipped in the battle with..."

"Kronos?" He replied. I nodded my head slowly. "He's the one who thrust you in this time, isn't he? You didn't come of your own free will."

"You think that if I had a choice of fixing my relationship with my girlfriend or going to the future to visit a son and daughter who tell me I went missing and she's dead, I'd choose the second?" I arched an eyebrow and turned his way, but he seemed lost in his own thoughts.

"Dad..."

"Call me Percy." I suddenly thought about it and scratched my head. "Or Billy Joe Armstrong. Your sister's got the whole camp thinking that's my name."

Lucas's nose did this weird twitchy thing that Annabeth did whenever she was uncomfortable with something. "_Billy Joe Armstrong..._when you get back, you need to remember what you did here."

"Of course I would. 'wouldn't be a timetraveler if I didn't know where the hell I was going," I responded. The Hephaestus Cabin was still in place, wasn't it? Yeah. Of all of the cabins, Hephaestus Cabin was always the only one that was made out of metal with the crest of Hephaestus forged into the doorknob.

"No." He stopped me and scowled. "You went missing and did horrible things out of your own self. Now, before all of the stuff that's happened, you get a glimpse of what you've caused. If you go back and don't prevent it, then all of this happens _all over again._"

"You don't know that for sure," I said nonchalantly. I arched an eyebrow and opened the door. "Now shut up. You're going to blow my cover."

"Not that you were doing a good job of cloaking it anyways," he sighed exasperatedly.

"Very funny." When I opened the door, a loud buzzing blared through our ears and clogged our hearing. A couple of Hephaestus Cabin members had melding masks on and were meticulously looking over blueprints. "Hey!" I called out. They didn't hear me. "HEY!"

All of the kids stopped and it was dead silent in the cabin. Hard to believe just a second ago that everyone was working. I uncapped Riptide and gestured to the tip.

"I had a bad run-in with someone when I first got here." I arched an eyebrow and saw J.T. in the back fumbling with what looked like a gauntlet. "Do you guys think you can fix our sword?"

A tall muscly girl immediately grinned and nodded. "We could do it with our eyes closed, Billy Joe Armstrong."

"Blind-folded!" piped one of the other Hephaestus campers. More cut in.

"Asleep!"

"On top of a volcano!"

"While doing the tango!"

"_Chacha!_"

I smiled and handed my sword to the muscly girl. "How long until it'll be ready?"

"Come back in three hours," assured J.T. He grinned again as the muscly girl brought Riptide to the back. "Hey, Luke... This looks a lot like your sword, Riptide."

Luke, huh? Lucas called out behind me, "Really, J.T.? Probably a coincidence. You know how much this kid is a wannabe." I mouthed to him, 'Wannabe?' he smirked and I punched him in the arm playfully.

"How much do I owe you?" I said aloud. They all stopped again and looked at me like I was crazy.

"Well normally," said another Hephaestus Camper, "Two drachma or two weeks of cleaning our cabin. But for you? You'll get it free."

I was speechless. Last time I asked someone to fix my sword from the Hephaestus Cabin, they had me on duty of the Kennel for the rest of the summer. "How come?"

"Dude!" He laughed and arched an eyebrow. "You're a hero!"

"Uh, thanks." I looked over to Lucas, who hadn't bothered to counter that claim. My eyes landed on the portrait that they had on the wall. It was Beckendorf and Silena Beauregard right before the war had started. Something twittered in my heart. "Who's that?"

"Charles Beckendorf and his girlfriend." A soft smile fell on the Hephaestus girl closest to me. "He was one of the greatest war heroes that we had. He died right before the big war between the Titans and Gods."

"He looks like he was definitely fit for a war. 'girlfriend looks like she has a good heart too." My eyes followed the whole portrait, surprised of its accuracy. Around Silena's wrist was a silver bracelet with a scythe charm on it. It was hidden under about seven bracelets, so no one would have even realized it was there. I was surprised that I didn't.

"Yeah." A scowl appeared on her face. "He had died in vain to save our _greatest war hero_, Percy Jackson. And still that damn traitor ended up going to the dark side. No offense, Lucas."

"None taken," Lucas replied.

"Traitor?" My voice rose in surprise. When I turned to Lucas for a reasonable explanation, but his eyes were fixated on the picture and didn't look like they'd give at any second. "What do you mean he was a traitor?"

The Hephaestus girl arched an eyebrow and then shook her head. "That's right. Even though you hang out with Callie all the time, Luke here has forbidden her to know any information, how haven't you?" She slowly got up and closed the door. Did we mention the cabin was sound proof? Her eyes narrowed at me and she grimaced. "So here's how it went down—uh... You mind, Luke?"

"...well..." I eyed Lucas again, who seemed skeptical. He shoved his hands into his pockets and looked at the ground. "Tch. Go ahead, Val."

"Eighteen years ago, there was another war between the Titans and the Gods. Big Three, pact, yada yada yada. The great, _infamous_ Percy Jackson and his lovely wife-to-be, Annabeth Chase, were able to get through to Luke Castellan, who Kronos had control of. Luke killed himself to 'kill' Kronos."

"I see," I tried to pretend to be hearing the news for the very first time.

"Well, Kronos can travel through time. Theory is, Kronos from the future decided to come to the past to make sure he's unstoppable. He gathered some Gods and Goddesses like the goddess of the night. Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase took it in their hands years later to try and stop him, but Kronos had other plans. Percy Jackson went missing. Guess where he went."

"Seventeen years in the future where he meets his crabby son and hyperactive daughter," I mused. Lucas punched me in the arm.

"No." Her eyes bugged out and she frowned. "Percy Jackson isn't a hero. Some say that he didn't even help kill Kronos—he was one of the reasons why Kronos was alive and well. He's working for Kronos now."

I was silent, still trying to run everything through my head. Finally, my eyes widened and my jaw dropped. "...Really?"

"Of course." She threw her hands into the air and tugged at Lucas's arm. "Lucas can tell you that that's the truth. One week, six years ago after Percy Jackson went missing, Lucas fought him. Percy Jackson tried to _kill_ his own son."

"You can't be serious!" My voice rose again and I clenched my fists. My head was spinning—there was no way she was serious. There couldn't be—I was a _good guy._ I looked over to Lucas, whose expression was grim as he zoned out again.

"None of the young campers know that little fact; including Callie." She gestured to Lucas again. "Out of anyone, Luke's probably faced his father the most time, each more difficult than the last. When he first got here at camp..."

"Don't go that far," Lucas suddenly wasn't quiet anymore. His eyes were still on the ground when he put a hand on her shoulder. "Not yet, Val. Just..."

She quieted and nodded her head somberly. "I get it. Anyway, kid, just come by this afternoon. We'll have it ready by then."

Lucas had to pull me along to get me out of the Hephaestus Cabin. I wasn't sure which world I was in right now—my mind was just thinking about that dream. _All _those dreams; _all _those meetings with the gods. Artemis had looked at me last night like I was _the_ hero. Dad must have known what kind of fate I would have succumb to; so why was he always looking at me so happily? I had to stop myself from tearing up when I thought about Annabeth again. "I..." I croaked. Lucas stopped pulling on me and looked at me straight in the eye again. "this is it, isn't it? This is why you've been so cautious about keeping me around ever since I stepped foot on camp."

"With a record like yours," I heard him mutter, "you can't exactly expect me to warm up to you so quickly."

I nodded and looked at my own two feet. "And Callie doesn't know or even remember this? Hasn't he... haven't I attacked her while at school or something when you weren't around?"

"Mom quit her job and decided it'd be better to home school her." Lucas shoved his hands into his pockets. "We forbid her to leave camp not only because we don't want her to get hurt—she was also claimed by Poseidon. If Kronos were to get a hand on her, what would be a better revenge than to kill his murderer's daughter? Or worse: use her against us."

"How come you're just telling me this _now_?" I looked over to him, eyes full of rage. His own eyes widened and he was taken aback.

Quickly, he reformed and shrugged. "You made me promise to tell you everything I knew. I'm telling you now, aren't I?"

"Not good enough." I glared at him again, but quickly my eyes softened as I looked at the ground. "And... Annabeth. How did Annie die?"

It was Lucas's turn to fall silent. I peered at him, and he kicked a rock on the ground. "That's one thing," he whispered, "that I never wanted to tell."


	7. We Break the Rules

**Author's Note: **

'bout time I updated, right? Have fun with this chapter!

**Chapter 7: **We Break the Rules

The kid's name was Jason King. Electric blue eyes like Zeus's, blond hair was bright as electricity, and a cocky smile that would have outdone Ares. He was an average pretty boy to say the least, and if he wasn't hitting on every girl at camp, I would think that he took after Apollo and not Zeus. The funny part was, Lucas said that he was the most powerful out of the Zeus Cabin. If he was as good at taking down enemies as he was getting girls, then he would do.

I looked at him from the Hermes table and crinkled my nose. Jason King had broken the rules and was sitting from table to table talking to different girls. Two of the Big Three down; one to go. Callie tapped me on the shoulder and looked my way.

"Hi," she said. A grin took up three quarters of her face. "Rumor has it that you're the leader to a new mission. Bet you're nervous."

"Tons," I lied. The truth was, I had been on a lot of missions before. Ninety-nine percent of the time, I almost lost my life. After the first couple of beatings, you kind of realize that there's no time to be nervous. The grin on her face was widening—if it could really do that.

"Seven people including you, right? Those are the only details that I know, _but_," Callie held her chest out and confidently put her hands on her hips. "I'm sure you could use a Jackson on your team."

"Of course," I said brusquely, "that's why I chose Lucas."

"_Lucas?!_" Her eyes widened and jaw dropped to the ground. "You... you chose my brother over me?!"

"Uh..." I couldn't look her in the eye. They were Annabeth's at that moment, and I could never say no to Annabeth. "He... has more battling experience than you do. Plus, I think this'll give him good time to develop a new style."

"B-But... b-b-but!" Callie was sputtering. She curled her hands into fists and when I looked at her again, she was on the verge of tears.

It'sforhersafetyitsforhersafetyitsforhersafety... Kind of hard reciting a mantra when the person it's being used against is standing in front of you with big teary eyes and a pout. "Callie," I found myself saying. "If you can't even hold back tears from hearing news, then how do you expect to hold back tears on the battlefield?"

"It's the best place to learn...," she squeaked.

I dug into my pocket and gave her a tissue. Some girl from Aphrodite Cabin gave them to me and said to "give them to all the girls who are sobbing when you're with me." Callie sniffled, miserably hiding tears behind hiccups.

"I'd uh, rather have you prepared when you come out with me." I scratched my head. Dealing with girls and crying was like dealing with Ms. O'leary trapped at camp. While she had to _potty._ "Callie, while you train at camp, you won't have to worry about messing up things on the battlefield."

Callie sobbed louder. We were getting attention.

Crapcrapcrap. "That way, if you mess up _here_, you'll just get a scrape. If you mess up _there_, you'll die." I tugged at the collar of my shirt. This was _not_ how I imagined things to go.

"But I've been at camp longer than you!" Callie countered. She peered at me again with sea green eyes. That meant the waterworks would probably last longer than a couple of minutes.

"In a way, I really, really _really_ doubt that."

"Eight years!"

"Ah." Not only were both of them younger than me, but they both apparently had more experience at Camp Halfblood than I did. Pretty much the only thing I had hanging over their heads was that I helped defeat Kronos, but considering how he's polluted everything, I was wondering how much competition he was then compared to now.

"Callie, I told you to stay away from him." Lucas had sneaked up on me without my knowing. I looked in his direction pleadingly, but all he did was glare at his sister.

"But _you're_ going with him on the big mission! Isn't there any room for me, Billy Joe Armstrong?"

"No. Registration is filled," Lucas answered.

"But...but..."

Finally, I sighed. "All right. Lucas, leave her up to me, okay?" It was only then that he glanced at me suspiciously. A scowl formed on his face; the dude was always so serious. I'm wondering whether or not if seventeen years from now I'm going to find that entertaining. "I'm not gonna hurt her. I _promise._ You know, the things we make when we're bargaining?"

Hesitantly, he let it jog his memory before finally leaving. I turned back to Callie, who was still sniffling. Tears hadn't fallen down her face; she was controlling the waterworks with her powers of the water.

"Come with me," I said.

"No." Stubborn and pouty. This was like dealing with a bratty little four-year-old who'd sit in on spot, give you the silent treatment and would cry if you touched him.

"I have a surprise for you." Shoving my hands into my pockets, I fumbled with more words as I left the table. "Lucas doesn't know about it."

That got her attention. She looked over to me, and the tears were gone in an instant. "Really?"

"Yes," I rolled my eyes and shifted uncomfortably between my feet. As we walked, I controlled myself from making eye contact with her. Knowing her, and I mean seriously, _knowing her_, she probably developed some kind of tactic to try to convince me. Once, when I was four, I used this pout on my mother so she'd let me have the rest of the cookie jar. It'd work after about three days, four hours, and twenty minutes, so in a long run, it _did_ work.

We made our way to the Hephaestus Cabin. One of the girls, Crystal Fyre, opened the door for me with a cheeky grin. I'd grown to know her within a week—especially with the little surprise I had for my future daughter. It was the kind of secret that Lucas would kick my ass for.

...Well actually, he'd kick my ass just for telling his little sister about some kind of fight I had with a satyr for the last enchilada. No kidding. I won by the way, if you were curious.

Crystal Fyre's cheeky grin faded a little bit as she looked over to Callie, like she was wondering if the surprise was gonna be ruined. I shook my head and nudged to Callie. Immediately, Crystal arched an eyebrow and let us in. "Uh... your sword is finished and we already gave it back to you, if you're forgetting."

"Oh, I'm not forgetting," I said quickly. Did I ever mention how creepy it was having Beckendorf's identical ten foot headed twin staring at me from that big frame? I shuddered, trying not to let the guilt rush through me. "I'm here to see Callie's little present."

Callie's big sea green eyes widened to the size of her fists. "My little present?"

"Specially made, from some of my greatest treasures that I've climbed through the Underworld for. Fearless and brave." I looked at her again and shrugged. "Don't tell your brother. I'm scared he'll kick my butt."

"_Yours_?" Crystal Fyre and Callie looked at me, eyebrows arched and suspicious more than usual. Even the other blacksmiths-in-training stopped and looked at me like I was crazy.

"What?" I mused. "He's a competent fighter."

"Um, have you seen yourself fight, Billy Joe Armstrong?" Callie looked at me again with wide eyes. "You're like, a natural born leader, can come up with awesome tactics on the spot, and are super, super funny! Where'd you come up with that stuff?"

"I know a guy." With long curly blonde hair, pretty gray eyes and a Wise Girl-ish kind of smile. "So you want to see the sword in progress now?"

Callie's eyes widened once again. "What?!"

I gestured to Crystal Fire, who walked over to an average looking chest. When she opened it, it was entirely different from what you'd expect from a girl. There weren't any clothes, but when she opened it, three different shelves popped out and scaled like stairs. For a second, I was lost from all of the different types of weapons in there; nunchuks, twin blades, senbon, stilettos, half of helmets, and something that sort of looked like a bolt. On the other hand, Crystal apparently knew what she was doing. She had reached into a secret patch and grabbed a folded piece of paper. Not only that, but she grabbed a handle.

Wow. I had made the design myself from many of the adventures that I was able to choke out of Lucas and some of mine, but I was never the best artist. Still, that handle looked _amazing._ There were soft engravings that spiraled from the base to the tip of what was already there. Some of them, I could actually recognize as me or Lucas, and others were engravings of Athena and Poseidon. Needless to say, the Poseidon I drew that looked like a duck and the Athena I drew that looked like a turtle were pretty petty compared to it.

"This is all that we have so far," Crystal said. She handed it to me. It was a little heavy in my hands, and before I even blinked, it suddenly flashed and appeared in my hand like a bracelet. Two little charms dangled by silver lace. One was an owl and the other was a trident.

"What do you mean by 'we'? I know you guys are kind of busy, so I only requested for one of you to." I scratched my head and tried to think about it again. How... weird. Luckily, I was able to glance over to Callie. Surprisingly enough, her mouth was closed and her eyes were still wide.

"Oh, we know," Crystal said immediately. She nodded her head furiously and gestured to the others. "But you're _amazing_, Billy Joe Armstrong. If we're going to make this because of your request, we want it up to your standards."

"Is the design hard to follow?" I asked in concern. I watched as the two charms moved in sync. They were magnetized, I think. Testing my theory, I pulled them apart. The handle came together all again and I almost dropped it from my hands.

"Kind of. We weren't sure if you wanted them simple in the drawing or for us to make it more detailed. Since it's the Gods..." Her voice trailed off and she looked at a different direction.

I nodded my head and looked over to Callie. "You want to hold it?"

Callie hadn't even looked my way when I said that. I put it in her hands and she kind of gulped before dropping it. She squeaked, "It's heavy."

"You have to have confidence in your weapon." I couldn't believe how surprised I was. Looking over to Crystal, I tried thinking of another explanation, but I couldn't have been any clearer than that. "Your weapon is an extension of yourself. If you don't have confidence, then how do you expect to be able to wield it?"

Her eyebrows furrowed and she found her shoes more interesting than my lecture. "Daddy was able to balance Riptide his very first time."

I'd been in a museum being attacked by my teacher when that happened. "It was beginner's luck. Your father isn't exactly the brightest guy in the crayon box."

Some Hephaestus members stifled a snicker as they paced from one end of the room to another. Callie shrugged, looking at her feet again before picking up the handle. There was some difficulty, apparently, as she did it. She could barely get it off the ground.

"Perhaps we should visit the Ares Cabin," I mused.

Her eyes shot open and she had yanked it off the ground like it was nothing. "NO. NO NO NO NO!"

That was surprising, considering how comfortable she was around Chase Rodriguez. Then again, I hadn't seen the two together since that night two weeks ago after Capture the Flag. I grinned and gestured to her hand. "Looks like not wounding your pride is your confidence. Nice work, Callie."

She flushed a strange hue of red. I'd seen Annabeth do it a couple of times, but that was when she didn't want to tell me something. "Thanks."

We said our goodbyes to the Hephaestus Cabin. As we walked out, I looked over to Callie again, who was still staring at her feet. "So what do you want to name it?"

"Why'd you just assume that when my father fought, it was beginner's luck?"

I stopped the second she asked that. Callie looked back up, eyes big green and wide. "Uh..." I mumbled. Crapcrapcrap. "Just an assumption."

"And if you're a rookie since you've never been claimed," her voice climbed higher and her voice flickered to gray for a second. I really hated getting deduced. "why are you giving advice out on how to fight?"

"Are you _complaining_?" I tried to ask as coolly as possible. My tone must have leaped seven octaves higher as I pulled the collar of my shirt.

Callie squinted at me and continued her observation. "_Well..._"

Well. This was it. Callie was finally going to figure me out; she was going to scream in camp that I was _the_ Perseus Jackson; everyone was going to look at me, either with disgust because I went over to the dark side (...hah. Heehoooheeehoooheeehooo "LUUUUCAAAS. I AAAM YOUR FAAATHERRR!") or with praise because of what I did all those years ago. How bad was it that I was homing for the former? The Girls at this camp are _scary_.

"I guess not."

..._Huh​?_ I glanced over to her, eyes wider than how far my jaw dropped. Immediately, I recovered and made it look like I was okay with that. Callie instead looked at me again, smiled, and shrugged.

"Timewarps are impossible, right, Billy Joe Armstrong?" Uh.... Let me get back to you on that. Callie looked at me, expression changing mischievously. "Or... are you really _him _in disguise?"

"I wouldn't exactly call it a disguise," I mumbled.

"...Lord Poseidon?"

"...What?" This would have been really hilarious if it weren't for the fact that she was jolting for the ground to bow. I scratched my head and looked around to see who saw that. Some people must have overheard her because they were bowing too, while others didn't think much of it. Instead, they waved at me. "I'm not the king of the sea, Callie. I promise." The King of the Sea had the so-called beach bum tan, a dark beard, and sea green eyes with smile wrinkles surrounding them. I'm still at my prime, and I shave when I have to. Trust me; two different people.

"Oh." Callie stood back up, but she didn't seem embarrassed about it. Instead, she tugged me along and we made our way through the forest. I was about to ask where we were going, but decided to let her surprise me. Suddenly, she halted and stared blankly at me. "I don't know yet."

"Know what?" I thought about it for a second and then arched an eyebrow. "You mean a name for the sword?"

Callie nodded and hung her head in shame. "Sorry. You're giving me this awesome gift and I don't even have a name for it. Could you name it for me?"

"Now what fun would that be?" I shrugged nonchalantly and smiled awkwardly. "You'll find a name for it. I promise."

We continued walking for a little bit. Callie was quiet, not looking at me even the slightest. "Hey, Billy Joe Armstrong?"

"It's Per—Yeah?" I had wandered through my own thoughts for a bit and had forgotten that I was supposed to be under cover.

"Did my brother tell you that I couldn't go on the mission or something?" Callie looked back up at me, eyebrows furrowed. "I know how to do stuff, Billy Joe Armstrong, I promise. I've been at this camp a hundred times and know what to do."

"Well yeah, your brother did say something." A look of glee came over her face, and she was suddenly relieved. Quickly, I burst her bubble by saying, "but I wouldn't have let you go anyways."

That made her stop dead in her tracks. "_Why not_?"

Um... so you guys have any idea how I should word this? I scratched my head and bent over to her height. "This is a really, _really_ important mission, Callie. I'm not saying that you personally would... screw it all up. I promise; I'm not. But I need experience on this team, and you said it yourself that I'm no rookie. Please don't give me that look—eight years of experience is awesome. The thing is, you only know the basics.

"You know how to kick, climb, maneuver, delve, jab, and everything. I have no doubt that Chiron's taught you well. But when it comes to the real thing, your judgement's going to be tested. What you do here—you know that if you get hurt, someone will take care of you. What you do out there? We'll do the best we can—but it might not be good enough. And you're Lucas's weakness. If he sees you out on that battlefield, injured, he's going to be so worked up on you that I'm scared to know what he might do.

"He's a good brother, don't get me wrong about that. You'll find your own team that you're comfortable with, but for right now, it just has to be me, your brother, and the five other kids we find." I awkwardly put a hand on her shoulder and tried to smile through my cumbersomeness. "Got it?"

She wasn't crying, so that was always a good sign. Instead, her eyes flickered to gray for a second and she squinted. "So you'd rather send me out with beginners who have camp experience but have no idea what in the Underworld they're doing to fend off monsters that we'll face and possibly get killed by than go out with you, my brother, and four other campers that have experience?"

Uh... "Uh..."

"Okay," she said. Wait... what? Callie gave me an Annabethish smile and curled her fingers into my sleeve. "But only because that sword is really really cool so far. By the time you get back, I'll have a name for it."

Whew. I grinned in relief and relaxed my muscles. "Where are we going?"

"To see Grover. Duh." Callie was excited, to say the least. I thought about it for a second. Seventeen years had past, and that would have made Grover's kid look like he was like, eight, right?

"How's his son?" I glanced over.

Blankness surfaced Callie's eyes. She frowned and shook her head. "Grover... doesn't _have_ a son. He has a daughter, though."

"Oh." For some reason, that didn't seem right. I scratched my head again and shrugged. We continued our way before finally making it to a juniper. She literally knocked on a leaf. The juniper shook a little bit before the leaves perked.

And with that, she disappeared in the bush. I stared at it, trying to come up with all the possible reasons why it would do that. Callie's head popped out. "You coming? Juniper said that it was okay to come in."

…ohh. I stupidly made my way in. Surprisingly enough? When we were inside, it was totally different from the outside. A thousand times bigger, at least. "Whoa..."

"Juniper! I brought a guest with me! The one I was talking to you about." Callie gestured over to me.

So think about how Tarzan got around in the jungle while he was growing up. Now, think about the tackiest forest-themed house ever. This was ten times better. The leaves looked like the plant cell walls my biology teacher had been talking about. Chairs, sofas, and tables were all leaves bent in that shape and stairs were made out of wood.

"This," I declared, "is amazing." I turned to the woman Callie was talking to. Juniper had not aged; I was surprised to see her so young. She was turned around with a baby in her hands. So they had another kid. Wonder if Callie and Lucas tortured them. Callie? Probably. Lucas? Too much of a goody goody. On the table were portraits and different pictures. One Juniper was holding the baby she had before, and there was a little boy satyr on Grover's back. "See, Callie? They do have a son."

Juniper halted from her cleaning. She turned around, eyes stiff and mouth unmoving. From the beginning, Juniper had never really liked me; her first impression of me was that I was stupid moron. "Hello, Callie. Hello... Callie's friend." She smiled sweetly to Callie. "Callie, can you get Biscotti's bottle from the fridge?"

"Yes ma'am," Callie said obediently.

The second Callie left, Juniper had burst into a fit of tears. Eyes widening, I tried to comfort her by patting her on the back but uh, she sobbed even louder. "YOU'RE... YOU'RE... YOU'RE A HORRIBLE MAN, PERSEUS JACKSON!"

"Shh, she might hear you," I squeaked.

"NO SHE WON'T! I PROMISE! YOU'RE... YOU'RE HORRIBLE! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU'D SHOW YOUR FACE IN MY HOUSE AFTER WHAT YOU DID!"

"Wh-what did I do?" Gulping, I backed away. I can face Cerberus, the Minotaur, Medusa, and Kronos altogether. I _can't_ face a pissed off angry scary dryad who seems to be able to hold a baby, fling things at me, and wipe her tears all at the same time.

"Oh, there there, sweet Biscotti. I promise, the mean man won't hurt you," she said softly. Juniper clutched 'Biscotti' closer to her and glared angrily. "WELL?! WHAT ARE YOU STILL DOING HERE?! ARE YOU HERE TO TAKE ONE MORE OF MY BABIES?!"

It clicked in my head. My eyes flickered, and Callie had returned in time to watch the show. She looked between me and Juniper. "Who died?"

Juniper started sniffling again and she seemed to relax. Either that, or the smile on her face was the best lie she was ever able to pull off. "Oh, no one died, Callie dear. I'm afraid that I have to clean the eucalyptus leaves again. They keep getting old and wrinkled. Perhaps another time?"

"Nice choice of words," I whispered sarcastically.

Callie's eyes widened. "What'd I do?" She nodded and gestured for the "door", which was an empty wall. She was already out before I turned around again.

"I'm sorry," I said slowly. Juniper held baby Biscotti closer and shook her head. The pit of my stomach knotted together as my hands curled into fists. "I'm sorry that I killed your son."

—

"You're right; I suck at this." I collapsed onto Lucas's bed and stared at the ceiling of the Athena Cabin. From the corner of my eye, Lucas was giving me a look as he messed with a laptop on his nightstand.

"If you're talking about your fighting? Yeah. You do. If you're talking about girls? Definitely. If you're talking about—"

"Dude. Can't I once just come to you and have a serious discussion?" I glared at him and then looked past him. "Duuude! Is that a batman action figure?" I rushed over to get it off of someone else's nightstand.

In return, Lucas rolled his eyes and sighed. "Fine. What'd you do?"

"I dunno. You tell me."

"You took a Batman action figure off of a five-year-old's nightstand. You better put that back before you leave."

I put it back hesitantly and returned to his bed. My eyes narrowed and I frowned. "Did I really do that much bad when I was here?"

There wasn't a change in his face. Instead, he turned back to the laptop, typing in words. We sat there for about two minutes before a big, fat "Dammit!" left his mouth. He pounded his fists into the sides of the laptop and rolled his eyes. "Why can't I crack this code?"

"What code?" I hovered over him and immediately recognized the computer. "This is Daedalus's. Annie actually let you use this?"

"Of course not. I stole it." He gritted his teeth and typed in another code. Access denied. He sighed again and rubbed his head. "I've tried every code that I could think of. No matter how many I think of, she's locked it so that nothing can be touched."

"Isn't there some trick you can do by going go safety mode?"

"_Please. _Daedalus and my mother were both people with high IQs that wouldn't _possibly_ leave it that easy to hack into a computer. Do you really think that they'd leave something like that so unguarded even when it comes to this computer? He was an _inventor_ and most likely _knows better_ than to do something as stupid like that."

"...so you're gonna try it right now?"

"...shut up." Lucas fiddled with the computer for a second. It suddenly went black before directly going to the desktop. A picture of Athena. Typical, typical Annabeth. "Typical Mom..." He rolled his eyes and a new file suddenly popped up. Access to all of Daedalus's files right there. With... dun dun dun, a password! "GRAAAGH!" He slammed his face into the keyboard.

"Bet you five bucks I know what that password is."

"You're broke."

"How do you know that for sure?"

"You came here. _In your boxers._"

"Five bucks. Going once... going twice...!" Lucas wasn't buying it. I rolled my eyes and took the computer gently out of Lucas's hand. This would have been the first time I'd ever be able to hold it. Annabeth was always too afraid that I'd get water on it or something. In big, capital letters, I typed: **MS. O'LEARY**.

**Password Accepted. **

"..." That was Lucas.

"..." That was me.

"..." Lucas.

"..." Me.

"..." Lucas.

"...Wow." I gave the computer back to him and stifled an amused laugh. "I can't believe that actually worked." He hadn't spoken, but I took the moment to stand up from the bed. "Well, since you're gonna be looking at porn the whole day, I'm gonna be exploring camp again."

"I am _not_ looking at po—what the crap is that?" I looked over his shoulder. What we saw was a _biiiiiit _disturbing. Lucas and I exchanged looks as it jiggled. He shut it off and narrowed eyes at me. "We leave with dignity and we don't let anyone know we found something that could ruin the great inventor's reputation."

"Deal." I stopped and looked around. "Hey, Lucas?"

"Yes?" He was searching the computer again.

"Where do the girls keep their hair accessories?" Lucas tore away from the screen and arched an eyebrow. "Trust me. I think it'll come in handy sometime in the future." He pointed to the dresser by a black and white bed. Normally, I didn't go digging, but I was hoping that they'd make an exception. I took a hair tie out and stuffed it in my pocket.

"You could just wear it on your wrist, you know," Lucas said without looking. "I'm going to see if there's anything he has on time travel."

Something came to my mind. "Could I check something first?"

"Da—Per... Billy Joe—"

"Seriously. Just call me Percy." I narrowed my eyes. We were the only two in the room at that moment. "It's been about two weeks now. Sooner or later, I'm gonna end up forgetting my own name."

"_Percy_, it is a highly advanced computer—"

"That I was the only one to get you to look through. Please, Luke? I promise for the next three hours that I won't come up with some snappy comment." That got his attention. I looked at him, eyebrow arched. My mouth lingered with some comebacks as he rolled his eyes again and scooted away.

"Make it five."

"Three and a half."

"Five."

"Three and a half."

"_Five__._"

"Three and a—fuck, just give me the computer!" I rolled my eyes as he scooted away for his own work. Looking at the screen again, I typed in three simple words: _Athena halfbloods pregnant._ It took less than a second; less time than I could blink before the result was up there.

_**"Psychological Life**_

___Athena is known for her virgin affairs and giving birth to her kids by her head. Once they are given birth to, they are graced with a high IQ, better judgment, and a sharp tongue. If a female child wishes to have a child with a man that she is infatuated with, it is possible for her to give birth via mind. Fertilization begins during the week of ovulation and may be triggered by a sexual thought of said man or simply imagining what this child will look like. _

_Soon after fertilization takes place, the expecting mother shall be pregnant for nine months. She experiences severe headaches, pain of the stomach, and psychological moodswings. The demigod in question shall show no physical sign of pregnancy other than the darkening of hair. The best way to track the growth rate of the baby inside the expecting mother is to bless her with a feather of an owl. _

_Physical exertion shall risk the health of the forming fetus, for the blood rushing to the soon-to-be mother's head shall intensively pulse and possibly cause brain damage to the baby and leave the mother in a comatose state. To keep the child of Athena's mind clear, it is recommended to give enigmas to spurt the development of both mother and child physically. _

_The Father of these babies were once worshiped as children of Hera, but physical resemblance shall always be shown in the child itself. It is dire for the mother to stay near her beau at all costs to lessen the risk of thoughts of suicide and depression. Once the mother and the father are together and furbishing, they shall form an empathy link that not even the Gods can destroy." _

That was all of the news that Daedalus had on his computer. Some of it was good; some of it was bad. I stared at it for a second and felt someone hovering over my shoulder. Lucas. I looked at him and then thought of the risks again. **Thoughts of suicide. Depression. Physical exertion risking health. Brain damage and Comatose State. **I can see some extra reasons just right there why teen pregnancy was a no-no. I stared at Lucas hesitantly, who's eyes were blank. "I... get back, right?" I asked softly.

Lucas nodded slowly. Ever since I found out about why he'd been so angry at me, he and I started having understandings with each other. They weren't much, but they were a start.

Suddenly, we heard a thump again. I arched an eyebrow. "Drill?"

His eyes widened. Immediately, he shook his head and uncapped his Riptide. I did the same with mine and we peeked through the window. Three kids stood there with matching gold eyes. My eyes widened in sync with Lucas's. Those were Kronos's kids. They all had swords in the similar style to Backbiter—half mortal metal to hurt mortals and half celestial bronze to hurt mythological creatures. Twice as painful to halfbloods.

Campers were gathering around. Callie was one of them in the crowd next to Chase Rodriguez. The three kids looked around, scowls formed on their face. They suddenly smirked.

"So," the only girl of the bunch said, "which one of you is gonna tell us where he is?"

Everyone was silent. Apollo Cabin had their hands dug into their sacs, Ares Cabin had all kinds of weapons, and the other cabins were falling into battle stances.

"We're not gonna ask a second time!" The boy on the girl's right side. "Where is he?!"

The boy on the left suddenly finished, "_Where is Percy Jackson?!" _


	8. Percy SMASH!

**Author's Note: **

Oh, darn. You guys reviewed too much and made me force this out! Just kidding; I know it's been far too long for an update; I guess I just got really busy and by the time I realized that this story's so good again, updating was harder. I can't promise you regular updates, but I can try, okay? Already have my PJO shirt ready for the premiere in February, can't wait. Till then, let's go back to some Callie and Lucas, and once again, thank you SO much for the reviews, I'm SO happy we broke the fifty mark! C:

**Chapter 8: **Percy SMASH!

So, you ever have one of those Mondays where it feels like the world is going to crumble under your feet if no one's gonna shut the heck up? That's how I feel right now; maybe every single day of my life ever since I found out I was a halfblood always asking myself, _ugh, who's gonna try to kill me __today?_ It's perfectly logical to have your mind shake, meld altogether and tell you how screwed you are, right? I sat there at that moment, hand slowly losing grip over Riptide as I tried to make sense of what was happening.

Lucas didn't give me enough time. He yanked me harshly by the t-shirt and forced the both of us to the floor. His eyes flickered with panic before finally settling on one point to calm. He opened his mouth to speak, but I beat him to it.

"We're screwed," I blurted. There were so many things going through my head right now; half of camp thought nothing of me, the other thought I was dirt, and overall the me right now they praised as a hero. That popularity would go down in an _instant._ "We're screwed, Gods, Lucas, we're so _screwed_!"

"Stop blabbing," he snapped. Lucas peeked out the window, his Riptide clenched tightly. "They have to be halfbloods, right?"

"Kronos's kids," I confirmed reluctantly. "At least, I'm pretty sure they are."

He nodded slowly, and I brought myself up to see what was going on. The crowd remained where they were before one courageously stood up. Lucas gaped. "Callie's still out there."

"Callie'll be fine." But I wasn't sure. She'd been the last of my thoughts before he mentioned here, and now I was worried. Backbiter lookalikes didn't only _look_ painful, but I was pretty sure they could kill. She was headstrong; she could have gotten hurt. I pushed the thought aside forcefully and reminded him, "You two had a deal, remember?"

"Right…" But he didn't look certain.

"AHHH!"

"CHASE!"

We looked back, and I stood up from where I was immediately. "No…" I whispered ominously. "NO!" Chase Rodriguez laid there, blood flooding the gash to his arm. They didn't know what they were getting themselves into; there was no way they could handle three children of Kronos!

"What the--what do you think you're doing?!"

April Somers stood up. Vines snaked around the three kids' ankles and they warily tried to move, but had no choice. She glared at them, sword in hands. "I'm thinking I'm defending my camp from the likes of you guys!" She bent over Callie and Chase, inspecting the wound herself.

"Funny," spat the short girl. She raised a hand to the vines intertwining around her legs and before we realized it, the effect was reversed. Her two minions did the same, and then she had April in a grasp with sword against her neck in the blink of an eye.

I stood up to leave, but Lucas stopped me. I glared angrily, Riptide now full and sword-like in my hand. "What do you think you're doing?!" I demanded angrily. "That's your girlfriend in trouble there!"

"Don't you think I know that?" Lucas glared back, voice trembling with uncontrollable anger.

I relaxed for only a moment when I realized why he was fuming. "Calm down," I said slowly. "If you let all that anger take over you, you could end up killing someone you don't mean to."

"Our best chance is to keep you safe." He slowed his breathing and closed his eyes before rubbing his temples. "April…can handle herself. She's flexible and agile; knows exactly how to handle herself."

"Five foot nine," the tallest interrupted our conversation. "Black hair and sea green eyes. He reins in the Poseidon cabin, approximate age is seventeen. There is a white streak that passes through his hair as well."

Crap. And then, the crowd of demigods went dead silent. My heart beat painfully, watching as every single one of the campers looked at each other with the new intake of information. There was only one person who matched that description perfectly.

"Me."

"Dad, _wait_!"

My body moved on its own--but mysterious halfblood reader, when have you ever known me to think with my head and not with my sword? Thought so. I stepped out of the Athena Cabin as casually as possible and all eyes were cast on five-foot nine, black-haired, sea green-eyed me. Riptide held firmly in my hand, I scratched my head, eyes narrowing at the scene in front of me. April was held in the grip of the girl, and a huddle of Apollo and Ares members circled Chase and Callie.

"Is there a party going on that I not know about?" I asked quietly. As casually as possible my body went past the many glares and stares I was getting and I could hear their thoughts as clear as day: _That's him. He's the one. He's the one who killed his own wife; almost his son. He's the faker. _

"And who might you be?" The shortest boy looked at me and it took all of my self-conscience not to laugh.

"The one you've been looking for, save about seventeen years. By the way, I'm sixteen and three-quarters." I held my sword perfectly between my fingers and stared at April. She stared back, eyes full of an unreadable emotion. I nudged my head to the right and her eyes followed hesitantly. "Now, what do you want?"

"To kill you." He lunged for me and in less than a second, Riptide was against the half-celestial bronze, half-silver sword, barely winning.

With a full grunt, I jabbed my hilt into his stomach and clutched his arm. He gaped, obviously not anticipating my movements and wriggled for freedom. Without a second thought, I grabbed his blade by its edges between my fingers and straddled his body with the glaive at his neck. "What are you all waiting for, a party invitation?!" I'd yelled so loud and sloppily that I wasn't even sure that they could understand me. The other boy pulled his sword out of its sheath and went for me. "Go ahead and fight!"

With a breath of relief, that seemed to be enough to snap everyone out of their daze. Crystal Fyre was the first to step up, mace tangled in her fingers as she charged for the tall boy. Many followed in suit, save Callie and Chase, and my eyes darted to the figure who'd been sneaking through the crowd as stealthily as possible.

"Lucas, NOW!" I cried and pulled the boy beneath me in a hold I knew he wouldn't be able to leave. Lucas tackled the girl holding April with his Riptide in hand and shoved April to the side. Now, the two kids of Kronos knew for a fact that they were cornered. They backed away, frenzied look plastered on both of their faces as they fought off every one of the demigods coming their way.

The one in my grasp was able to catch me off guard. I turned back, expecting him to be an easy target, but he fooled me. Instead, he shifted his own body weight and flipped me to the ground, back first. With a startling hiss, I forced myself back to my feet, once again uncapping Riptide before tackling his legs. He fell to the ground in one fatal swoop and I hit him harshly over the head.

He groaned, mouth crooked in a grimace before finally falling unconscious. Well, that was easy. In an instant, my eyes shot open as I realized _stupidly_ what was going on. "Callie!" I dragged the kid with me in search for Callie. "Oh, thank Gods! Are you okay?!"

Callie had an arm around Chase's, fumbling with a bandage over his bleeding arm. He croaked a horrible groan, and I dropped everything right there and then. She bit her lip, slowly nodding with trembling fingers. "Y…Yeah…"

A sigh of relief left my lips. It took me a minute to realize that I'd collapsed to my knees, finally relaxing from my earlier tension. I put my hand over hers, gently swatting them away and tied the wound myself.

"You should have at least taken him to the infirmary," I said sensibly. "Or ambrosia. Do you have any ambrosia?"

She gawked, mouth wide and highly offended. "In case you haven't noticed, we're in the middle of a battle with three halfbloods who want my dad! Do you think that in the minutes between dragging Chase Rodriguez doing the most stupidest thing in the world and then dragging him here, I had time to take him to the infirmary?! Or get ambrosia, for that fact?"

"Maybe a little," I grumbled, just a bit embarrassed.

Chase blinked wearily, grimacing at the tied wound. Blood soaked through the bandages with no problem; this wasn't a laughing matter. I cursed softly and brought Riptide back in hand.

Callie immediately quieted. "Is he going to be okay?" she said softly.

"I dunno," I admitted. "But I have to go back. Don't do anything stupid, understood?"

Sea green eyes looked at me for a moment, contemplating what my real motives were. Finally, she nodded and looked away without another word. The rest of what happened was a blur. The two kids in the middle held their own for the kids tormenting them. I remembered Lucas yelling something at me, but it went in one ear and out the other. By the time the two managed to retreat without their brother, I ended up dragged in odd places without another word. Somehow, I ended up in the Big House and when I looked up, I came in contact with two faces--

"Mr. D; Chiron." I let out the breath I was holding and sunk deeper in my chair. Neither looked happy. Well, Chiron looked concerned; Mr. D looked like he was ready to bite my head off more than usual.

"Are you out of your silly little mind?!" Mr. D went off like a firecracker. He scoffed and held up a grail, irritably demanding for wine or beer. Instead, he got what I suspected was apple juice and rubbed the stress out of his temples. "You, Peter Johnson, are by far the most _troubling_ young man on the face of this planet!"

"No, really?" I stood up, Riptide in hand and angrily rolled my eyes. "What gave you that idea, Mr. D? Was it when Mrs. Dodds thought that it would be okay to kill me because she thought I stole Zeus's lightning bolt? What about when Grover almost got married to Polyphemus? Oh, the Great Prophecy, maybe? The _second_ Great Prophecy?!"

"You…" he growled threateningly. "_Immoral ingrate…_why, I ought to--"

"Bring it!" I know I was out of line. If I looked back on it now, I would have never been able to look Mr. D in the face ever again for offending him; I'd had Ares on my back so long that I knew for a fact that having a god as your enemy was the worst thing that could ever happen.

Apparently, Chiron noticed this too. He stomped his hoof and whinnied in our faces. "This isn't the place and this certainly isn't the time. Percy, you know better! Dionysus, we came here to speak like civilized adults!"

"Hmph." Mr. D harrumphed and sat idly in his chair. "What adults? I see a _god_, a centaur, and an arrogant little brat who can--"

"I get it, I get it," I said. Finally calming down, I recapped Riptide and sunk back to my seat. I sighed, the thoughts finally coming to me. "Nyx's promise. She swore on the River Styx and then broke it."

Chiron and Mr. D stared at me like I was crazy. Well, Mr. D _always_ thought I was crazy, but Chiron had a good grip on reality and knew me enough to know this wasn't my normal behavior. "Percy… what are you talking about? Nyx didn't swear on the River Styx."

"Yes she did," I protested. "She…" Oh, _duh._ It was Dream Me that saw what Nyx had done, Chiron and everyone else had no idea what was going on! I explained to them about the night at camp right before I left; how I saw the grown up me running away with a little girl on her back (one who I now realized was Callie) and how after Callie left, Nyx and the grown up me made a deal. "And being a demigod means that every dream that I've had isn't some intricate weird case in my mind, right?"

Chiron rubbed his chin thoughtfully and nodded. "I remember that night, Percy. Callie came wandering in and fainted right next to Thalia's tree. When she woke up, she didn't remember anything that happened. I suppose her mind erased all thoughts due to the trauma."

"Nyx said that she would make sure that they would leave the camp alone," I repeated. "On the River Styx. Doesn't Hades get to punish her and she be banished from Mount Olympus or something?"

They were both silent and contemplating. Finally, Mr. D sighed and set down his grail. He looked at me, eyes bitter and full of disdain. "Nyx was never a one who was on terms with Zeus's reigning in the first place, Peter Johnson. Whether or not she is banned from Mount Olympus doesn't matter."

"And Hades?"

"Hades works exclusively with the Fates." Chiron's eyebrows furrowed troublesomely. "Atropos is dead."

"And a new deity has to replace her so that…" Oh. I felt my heart go to a dead stop and my eyes widened with realization. Atropos was the one who cut the silk intertwining the life of a mortal with death. Now that she was gone, no one was there to cut the string and therefore, no one died. If no one died, then Hades lost the people who came to the other world, which meant that Hades lost his powers. All of them.

"Lord Hades hasn't lost _all_ his powers," Mr. D said sternly. He shook his head. "But he's close to losing most of them. His powers come from the dead, and rather than saying that he lost his powers, he's limited in how much he can use."

"Although one of the most powerful gods, and I do mean, one of the most _powerful_, this is something that Lord Hades can't deal with." Chiron shook his head pitifully with troubled eyebrows. "Heaven, Earth, and Hell, Percy. There has to be a balance, otherwise hell _would_ break loose."

"Lady Persephone is Queen of the Underworld though." Eyes narrowed, I looked at them skeptically. "Can't she rule?"

"Lady Demeter weeps whenever her daughter isn't around, remember?" Chiron countered easily. "So there would be no more harvest, with only the seas to rule. Lady Gaia was forced to hide in the earth because of her love with Ouranos. She wouldn't be able to take over because then the Earth and Sky would meet."

"And then Olympus would be in trouble." I groaned. Why weren't things ever easy? "Then, what else is there that we could do?"

"That's what you're here for, isn't it?" My old teacher gave me a small smile, so full of hope that it made my chest hurt. "To sum it all up, Nyx can do whatever she wants so long as there isn't a third Fate."

"And since Nyx is the Goddess of Night, if she gets as much power as she wants, Apollo won't last long, either. Kronos can't die, either." This was horrible! I rubbed my head, once again sinking slower in my seat. I felt like crap. Suddenly, a new idea formed in my head. "He already knows I'm here, right?"

"Right."

"And he's looking for me, right?"

"Right."

"Then," I immediately stood up. "I'll start teaching the classes now, Chiron. Lucas is willing to help me, and I need those members. The second we're able to leave, we have to jump. We'll make it a reconnaissance mission, and…and…"

"And what, Peter Johnson?" Mr. D glared daggers at me. "A reconnaissance mission isn't going to keep them from slaughtering every demigod that they meet. You have absolutely no idea where Kronos lies, and each time you face him, every _waking_ second, he has a new child; another host that he can use against you."

"There has to be a way, Mr. D!" I shrieked, pulling my hair with me. "I…I hate this future! This future is horrible, is _wrong_, and unless I can back to my own time, Kronos is meddling with _godsknowwhat_ in my past, and I can't do anything to stop it!" I sighed again, realizing that I raised my voice to a god. "Sorry," I murmured softly. "But I can't just sit around and do nothing. I'm evil in this future, Mr. D. I killed my own wife."

When I saw Mr. D recoil, I knew who was going through his mind: Ariadne. Eyebrows furrowing, I looked away again and refused to look up.

"I suppose," Chiron said after a long silence had passed between the three of us, "that we can't understand, Mr. D. We can only stand by and see what's going on."

I perked up. What was he implying?

"We have no other choice." My teacher slowly nodded, accepting whatever idea was forming in his head and looked back at me. "Percy, your secret is out, and you're right. The sooner we are able to choose the other six halfbloods, the sooner we can get this mess sorted out. I pray you make the right decision."

"I have some in mind," I promised. Many people ran through my head; the ones I'd known ever since I came to this camp only two weeks ago. "And about my teaching classes?"

"Go ahead, but I don't like it." Chiron's eyes narrowed reluctantly and he slowly nodded. "Classes start in the morning. I suppose it'll be a good workout for you."

"Better than sitting around doing nothing," I agreed. "I'll explain everything to Lucas then."

"And Percy?" I turned back around as I was getting ready to leave. Mr. D looked at me, eyes intent on telling me off. Instead, he sighed and looked away. "Good luck."

--

Remember how the other day I said it was utterly creepy to have girls check me out and tell me how cute my butt is? Remember how girls wouldn't stop following me and tell me, "you poor thing!" over and over and over? I think I'd rather have those two combined than the stares, murmurs, and death glares everyone else was giving me. Chiron and I had a brief discussion of tomorrow's schedule for me before we left the Big House.

Kids were staring. I was like the last piece of meat on a stick meant for all of these people who hadn't eaten for days. So many questions were already being asked, I knew, and the only thing on my mind was to go find Lucas. He and I needed to formulate a plan for the next few days before we set off for the Underworld.

"Billy Joe Armstrong!"

I halted at the same time as Chiron and turned around. A group of girls ran up to me, the first I recognized being Jane Belmonte from the Aphrodite Cabin. She looked at me, eyes full of worry. "Uh," I mumbled, not sure what to say, "hi."

"You ran off right after the battle." Jane put a hand on my shoulder and looked straight into my eyes. I tried to stare at anywhere but there, trying best to avoid eye contact. It was awkward enough as it is. "Are you okay, Billy Joe? You weren't hurt, were you?"

"No, never." I shook my head and looked back to the group of girls. A grimace fell upon my lips. "I'm fine, Jane. This isn't exactly a good time, though."

"So it's true then," piped anther girl. Her eyes were as big as she lightly pushed Jane out of the way. "You're _him,_ you're _the_ Percy Jackson, aren't you?"

"Uh…" I looked over to Chiron, who looked as lost as I was. Finally, I sighed and nodded. "Yeah, and right now, I need everyone gathered in the Mess Hall so we can make a public announcement."

"We'll help!" said a different girl. She nodded giddily and grinned. "We'll tell everyone to come, Bi--Percy! You can leave it to us!"

"Right." Jane nodded too and smiled brightly. "We'll do anything that you want us to, Percy!"

"Uh, right. Thanks." With a sigh of relief, I exchanged looks with Chiron, quietly telling him we'll meet up at the Mess Hall before making my way to the Ares Cabin by myself. For about five minutes, I only stared at it with an unsettling feeling of anxiety. The Ares Cabin had a steel door just like the Hephaestus Cabin, but appeared much more menacing. Walls were smeared with soot, still holding the title of the least clean Cabin even after all these years. I gulped, eyes narrowing hesitantly at the door knob before I actually heard something along the lines the real Ares would say: _What, don't got the balls to enter my cabin, Jackson?_

With a little annoyance on my own imagination, I finally opened the door and peeped open. Glares. Lots and lots of glares because Ares was known for being the god of war and _anger._ It was a blow to their pride, too, to have a weakness like this. Mostly though, I'm pretty sure they were just really angry about who I was.

"Ummm, hi." I looked between all of them, finally wilting in defeat.

"Percy Jackson." One noted curtly.

I nodded in return and looked at the bed they were all surrounding. Chase Rodriguez laying helplessly and straggling his bed as, who I presumed to be an Apollo kid, massaged his gash. The bandages Callie worked around his arm were removed and bloodying his bedside while the Apollo kid tried to use magic to heal the wound.

"How bad is it?" I murmured to one of the campers.

"Bad." The Apollo kid looked up to me, his eyes flickering with trouble. "That sword they stabbed him with…"

"It's made of celestial bronze and normal metal," I explained. A grimace came over me as I shuffled through the many concerned Ares siblings and plopped down next to Callie and Lucas, who were on the other side of Chase. "It's twice as bad for halfbloods and is a total unfair advantage. I think they got a pretty good bite of his arm."

Another Ares camper snorted. "You would know."

My entire body tensed at that one little comment. The sweat ran cold against my back and I looked up to the Ares kid, glaring daggers. "Yes, I _would_ know."

"No, Dad." Lucas tugged on my arm and whispered something in my ear.

"Oh." The blush tickled my ears as I finally realized why my retort was pretty much useless. I'd abandoned Riptide a long time ago and gave it to my son; the sword I now used, as Lucas was explaining to me, was exactly like Backbiter: half celestial bronze, half normal metal. I looked over to Callie, who too seemed frustrated by everything. I wondered, how much did she know now? "All of you; I have an announcement to make in the Mess Hall. Be there in fifteen minutes. Chase, if you have the strength to get up, then I want you there too."

More glares. Why were they making this so hard?

Chase forced himself up, eyes slowly opening. He glared at me weakly. "Why should I?"

"Just _do it,_ Gods!" I raked a frustrated hand through my hair because that's what I was: so darn frustrated since it was only this morning that these paranoid kids would have been happy if I just said 'hi' to them. Now, they acted like all I needed to do was wave my hand and they'd be dead in an instant. They were close to it, too, if they didn't listen to me.

"No."

"Please."

"_No._"

"Rodriguez, I don't care if I have to haul you there _myself_, I'll--"

"Chase, please?" I stopped, hearing Callie's voice for the first time since I entered. She looked at him, eyebrows wrinkling in frustration. "For me? I know that Daddy isn't a bad guy; otherwise he wouldn't have helped us out. So please?"

For a minute, I was sure that I was interrupting a moment. I realized between them, how Callie's voice had the same soothing affect as one of Apollo's songs, and then to how Chase's reluctance dissipated in less than a second. "Okay," he muttered. He looked up to his older siblings, pout firmly set across his face. "We'll go."

I nodded in approval and then stood up. "Inform the Apollo Cabin too," I said to the kid next to Chase. My eyes wandered over to Lucas, who returned my gaze. "We need to talk."

Lucas nodded in agreement before the both of us shuffled out the Ares Cabin and near the back. He crouched over and began messing with some of the dirt. "So, I saw what happened. What did Chiron want to talk to you about?"

"How's April?" I thought it was best to start with simple questions. I wasn't beating around the bush; I just hoped that Lucas knew that too.

"Fine." Lucas perched a mound of dirt and looked at me proudly. "April and I have been going on missions together since we were nine. The second she was caught, she knew that I was going to do anything in my power to rescue her."

"That you did." The girl and the boy suddenly came back in my thoughts. "And Kronos's kids? What happened to them?"

"They disappeared with a flash." Lucas suddenly frowned, which was obviously not a good sign. He shook his head and threw specks of dirt in nowhere in particular.

"And their brother?"

"Them too." He arched an eyebrow. "Didn't you hear me yelling at you on the battlefield?"

Oops. "Well, you yell at me a lot, so…"

Lucas rolled his eyes and slowly nodded. "They're the exception to the rule, you know. They're neither monsters, nor mortal, so the God of Time is able to have his kids come here and attack us at any time."

"Which is exactly why we need to be prepared for this sort of thing." I nodded in agreement and crouched to his level. "We're running low on time and playing Kronos's game, Lucas."

Lucas slowly nodded, eyes watching me. We stayed like that for a few seconds with him watching me and me looking back. I arched an eyebrow, finally asking, "What?"

"Nothing," he muttered. Lucas scratched his head and sighed. "I just finally realized…"

"Realized…?"

"We look a lot alike." Lucas leaned back and then looked to me with the same intent on his face as before. "Same black hair, same nose. In less than a year I'll probably grow up to your height."

"You say it like it's a bad thing," I joked lightly. He glared at me, obviously not in the mood for humor. I shook my head and shrugged. "You're wrong by the way; we're nothing alike."

"Oh?"

"You make me think of Annie the more I get to know you. That night with April was probably the first time I actually got to see your true personality and even then, you're just like her." I thought back to Annabeth; her smile, her laugh, and the way she would punch me when I did something stupid. "Gods, you're just like her, Lucas. Serious and daunting. You're always thinking about others before yourself and putting duty before your desires. That's admirable."

"Ah." Lucas slowly nodded and looked away, far too embarrassed by my long speech. "What about Callie?"

"Callie?" I repeated. I smiled softly and shrugged. "Callie is Callie. When I look at her, I look at who I wish I could be; happy and without any worries. She's the kid that everyone in Camp Halfblood wants to be because she can walk away from a fight in tears and prove that she's human. She's perfect."

Lucas slowly nodded.

We entered another silence, and I thought it best to change the subject. "So it's kind of obvious who I am now, huh?"

"The infamous Percy Jackson," he muttered quietly. "Half of the camp already knew, Dad. By now, the rumors and explanations have surfaced to the younger kids about your future tyranny, so multiply that by two, and you get--"

"Far too many to be on my side." I nodded and ran through the plan in my head. "We have three days."

His eyes widened. "Chiron only gave us three days?"

"No, I gave us three days." I shook my head profusely and held three fingers up. "In those three days, I'll be teaching the weaponry classes in order to find the last few demigods that we need. By the third day, we have to leave with five other people in toll whether we like it or not. You think we can gather people up in three days?"

"You, me, Jason King. That's all we've decided on so far," he reminded me. Lucas's eyes narrowed, and he was ready to bite my head off. "And we're not bringing Callie into this ordeal. She's still getting over the shock about who you are."

"April Somers," I said. "That's four people, Lucas, and you and I both know who we want from the Hades Cabin. I know what I'm doing."

Lucas rolled his eyes. "And who made _you_ leader?"

"Oh, I wasn't aware that I could go straight home if the six kids I'm leading didn't want me." Rolling my eyes, I stood up and helped him up. "We have a lot of work to do if we want this to work, Lucas."

He stared at my hand for a moment before grabbing it. "Yeah," he agreed. "we do."

--

The Mess Hall was packed when we were finally there. They all stopped their chattering the second I entered, some glaring, others staring. They continued being awed for a couple more minutes while Lucas pushed me through the kids getting food. He tugged me on for a moment before I stopped him and tried to make a break for the door.

"I can't do this," I yelped. He hit me over the head.

"What happened to the almighty Percy Jackson; the one who once beat down Kronos?" Crap. He sure knew how to mock a person.

"Yeah?" I rolled my eyes and scratched my head. "In case you haven't noticed, I've only been able to do all of those amazing things mostly when there wasn't any alternative. Last time I checked, running out was a good alternative if you didn't want to inspire so many people!"

"Oh, _please._" Lucas rolled his eyes, obviously not amused while he shoved me to the stage. I silently cursed and watched as they all quieted again with all eyes on me.

"Um..." I shifted between my feet. "Hi. To most of you, I'm known as Billy Joe Armstrong. Well, right now, the I guess it's time I should tell you that I'm really--"

"Are you Percy Jackson?!" yelled one of the campers.

"Are you good or evil?!" shouted another.

"Did you really defeat Kronos before?!"

"Are you the reason why Kronos is attacking _now_?!"

"Uh…" Ugh, this wasn't helping much. Instead, I stayed quiet and waited for them to stop bickering amongst themselves. Finally, I sighed and nodded. "My name is Percy Jackson. You're right about that. Three weeks ago, you found me in a creek. The reason behind that was in my time--seventeen years ago, I was fighting Kronos again. The future Kronos. He thrust me into the future."

"This is a trick!" shrieked another camper. "You're faking all of this; why do you even bother showing your face, Percy Jackson?!"

Many boo's followed along with that. I opened my mouth to speak and deny trickery, but they never gave me a chance. I closed it again, hugging Riptide closer and counted to ten. One….seven….nineteen…twenty-three…

"Alright, screw this!" In the blink of an eye, Riptide's length was full and revealed, shining in all its glory. They silenced again, instinctively reaching for their own weapons, but I never gave them the chance. Instead, I stood there looking like an idiot waving the sword in my hands as I jabbed it in no particular direction. "In a few months, I'll be seventeen. In my time, Kronos has already been defeated for about a year.

"The future Kronos came back in time in order to sleigh me, but I was too smart for him, okay? The me that you know who's all evil and whatnot is way older than me--trust me. Percy Junior over there," I gestured to Lucas, who sat firmly with the Athena campers, "hasn't even been born yet, okay? The me that you know now and the me from back then are _different._

"Right now, Kronos is roaming earth gathering an army with his own children, and each second we spend talking, he has another kid, understand? Remember that that little thing called the Great Prophecy? Well, my best buddy, the Oracle, says that I'm one of the seven. Five of you will be coming with Lucas and me, and by the end of the week, we're _going_ to be out and wondering what we can do to heal the Gods, understand?" I looked between all of them, noticing the astonishment enticing their features. They looked hesitant; afraid. Immediately, I softened, frown settled cross my features.

It wasn't right. Threatening them was wrong of me and would only cause more harm than good.

"I know that this is a hard decision," I said, barely audible. "But every book has a hero, and we need seven. We'll have a happy ending, I promise."

They all quieted again, and I knew it was time for me to finish up. Outside, day was fading into night and I shivered. My eyes travelled and looked at every single one of them before I finally put Riptide away.

"Practice," I said lastly, "starts at 8AM, sharp."


End file.
